Guilt & Whiskey
by VirgilVirgilVirgil
Summary: Running on no sleep and a massive amount of stress as he helps the First Order prepare for war, Hux makes a poor decision and is kidnapped by pirates. He finds himself in the company of two women - one who claims her job is to make people disappear, the other who claims her job is to find people. He doesn't trust either of them, but his life may be in their hands.
1. Chapter 1

**Day 1**

Hux tried to remember how he ended up sitting on the repulsively dirty floor of a prison cell. The Finalizer had taken a stop above a forest planet and he, for some odd reason, felt compelled to go out on his own. He rarely left his troops, not even for something as quick as the hour long walk he had intended to take. He couldn't remember the last time he went off on some foreign planet on his own. With the destruction of the base and impending war he hadn't slept in two and a half cycles.

In retrospect, that may have impaired his judgment.

He still wasn't entirely sure how they had captured him. The headache that had been hammering away at his skull for a few days was just starting to subside as he found his way through a path of massive trees - he blinked, and when his eyes opened he was in this dark little prison cell, face down on the floor.

His only saving grace, he guessed, was that he had left the base without his uniform on. The fools who had captured him most likely had no idea who he was, or else they would have already turned him over to the New Republic for a massive reward.

All he needed to do is wait for his crew to track his location.

 _It shouldn't be more than a day or two._

 **Day 2**

A guard brought him two meals a day. He was a meaty looking human, with dark hair and a bad attitude. He generally slung the tray at Hux without as much as a grunt. Not that Hux was really that offended; he didn't have any intentions of speaking with anyone. Best do everything possible to keep his identity secret.

The guard exited through a door down the narrow hallway. There were six cells, three on each side of the hallway. Barred walls ( _incredibly archaic, clearly these were not sophisticated people_ ) faced the hallway, so he had fairly good view. Good enough to tell that he was the only one in the cells.

A few hours after the guard flung the tray of grayish goop-food at him and left, he returned with a rough looking Duros, hands bound behind his back. He tossed the alien into the cell adjacent to Hux and slammed the door closed, leaving without a word.

The Duros, on the other hand, had many words to say. He was shouting in a language Hux didn't understand. Hux could see his gangly arms waving through the bars, flailing with fists clenched. He seemed to have quite the temper.

After several minutes of yelling, he finally quieted down. He said a few other things and Hux wondered if he was trying to communicate with him. Eventually he stopped trying.

 **Day 3**

Hux was concerned. He knew he shouldn't be. His troops were impeccably trained, there was no doubt in his mind that they were about to locate him. But he was surprised it was taking this long. The fools that kidnapped him must be slightly more adept at hiding people than he had initially assumed.

His new neighbor mumbled to himself throughout the day, but for the most part he was quiet.

Late in the afternoon, the guard returned, pushing a new prisoner into the cell across from Hux. It was a human, a woman who appeared to be in her mid 20's, about half the height of the meaty guard. The guard tried to push her into the cell, but she circumvented the move by walking into the cell at her own will.

The guard shook his head, mumbling something to her as he left. Hux recognized the language he spoke, but didn't understand it. He'd never been particularly good with languages. Not when it was easy enough to use a droid.

When the guard slammed the door on them, she stood by the bars of her cell, glaring down the narrow hall toward the door. Hux sat on the floor toward the back of his cell and watched her quietly. It was difficult to see much in the low light, but she appeared to have short cropped, angular dark hair and rather pretty looking bow shaped lips.

After a few moments, she turned, examining her cell. Hux had already inspected his thoroughly. There was no weak point for escape.

The man in the cell next to his said something, evidently to her, because she made her way to the front corner of the cell, looking out to him. After a few moments, she responded in the same language. The two went back and forth for a moment and Hux found himself wishing he had bothered to pick up a few languages at least. Not that he wanted to join in on the conversation, but he really wished he knew what they were talking about.

The woman glanced to him quickly. Hux had a creeping feeling that they were talking about him.

Their conversation continued and Hux found himself trying to read her expressions. She was tight lipped, and kept giving the man very short answers. If her body language indicated anything, she didn't want to talk to the Duros. A very brief flicker of anger cross her face, which she quickly forced into smile and cut the conversation off, turning away from him.

The cells went quiet for some time, and Hux sat in the corner with his eyes closed, pretending he was asleep to avoid interacting with anyone. She started speaking again, but not the language she was speaking to the Duros earlier. He opened his eyes and saw she was sitting near the bars of her cell, looking at him. She nodded.

He ignored her.

She tried another language.

He wondered how many she knew. That made three so far.

She tried a fourth.

He found it remarkable that she knew four languages and none of them were the one he spoke.

She watched him very closely, with narrow eyes.

"How many languages do I have to try before you understand me?"

Five. She knew five languages. He didn't want to speak with her, so he didn't react, but there was something oddly relieving about hearing somebody else speak a language he understood.

She grinned at him. "That is the one, yes?" Her accent was thick, something from an outer rim territory that he'd only heard a few times before.

She nodded, somehow now assured that he understood her even though he still hadn't acknowledged her. "Your name?"

He didn't respond.

She sighed, "I know you can understand me. It is strange that you do not want to talk."

The other man said something and she shot him an icy glare, then looked back to Hux, "His name is Rami." A sweet smile cracked across her face, "Please don't make him the only conversation I have in here. He is a fucking moron."

Hux was surprised she hadn't recognized him yet. No doubt his speech was broadcast across the galaxy, probably translated into a hundreds of different languages. But then, his facial hair was starting to grow out. Maybe he was unrecognizable.

"How long have you been in here? You cannot tell me you do not want to talk to someone."

"Three days." He regretted talking before he finished the sentence, but it did feel nice to say something.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "You must be very… bored."

He shrugged, "It's not so terrible."

"Where are you from?"

He didn't reply.

"Hmm…" She tilted her head to the side, "You have something to hide, hm?"

 _You have no idea._ "Not particularly. I just don't like talking about myself."

She looked at him with narrow eyes, "Right. So how did you end up here?"

He sincerely wished he could answer that, "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest."

"Same as our friend Rami. Interesting. They must be planning to sell you both off to slavers on the outer rim…" She points to her hair, "The red… they will get a good price for you."

"We're on a ship?" He had been operating under the assumption they were still on the planet. No wonder it was taking his troops so long to locate him.

"Yes. You didn't know?"

He shook his head. "What do you know about them?"

"Hm… you have no idea where you are, do you?"

"I've drawn a few conclusions."

"You are on a pirate ship. Primarily used for smuggling people. There is a slaver's market a few days away from here."

"How big is the shi… How would you know about a slaver's market?"

A grin stretched across her lips, "I know many things you would think I do not know. The ship has maybe 30 or 40 crew members. A rough crew from what I have seen, though most pirates are." She paused. "Particularly ones who smuggle people."

 **Day 4**

"You do not sleep much, do you Red?"

He cringed at the nickname. "Don't call me that."

"You have not given me anything else to call you."

He frowned.

"You were awake most of the night."

"You were as well, I take it?"

She shrugged toward the bed, "It is not the most comfortable."

She wasn't wrong.

"So…" She sat on the floor leaning toward him again. "You will not tell me where you are from?"

"I don't see why I should."

She made a tisking noise with her tongue. "So many secrets. Where do you think I am from?"

Her accent was brutally distinct. "You're from Ysook."

"Hm. Yes. It is too easy to guess with me."

"It is a distinct accent. To be fair, I'm a little fond of the old Ysookian whiskey, so I may be more familiar than most."

"Ah… we did make good whiskey."

"It's far too hard to come by since the original ruling family was overthrown."

She nodded slowly. "Do I speak your language well?"

She must not want to talk about whiskey. It was all he could think of, really. "Well enough."

"Good. It has been some time since I spoke Basic."

"How many languages do you speak?"

She thought for a moment, "Seven… eight… You?"

"Just one."

"Really? I am surprised."

"Why?"

"You seem like an intelligent man. I would think you know at least a few. What do you do?"

He didn't reply.

She sniffed, laughing at him. "What danger is that information?"

"I'm an engineer." He wasn't entirely lying… He was an engineer - he just did much more than that.

"An engineer…" She studied him closely, skeptically. "I would have guessed you were a prince, from the way you carry yourself. But you are from the Arkanis sector, yes?"

He looked at her, surprised by the accuracy of her guess.

She grinned, "Yes, you see I can tell by more than just an accent. People from Arkanis always have their nose in the air."

He scratched his chin. His facial hair was completely grown in, and was starting to bug him. "And what do you do?"

She looked around her cell nonchalantly, "Mm… I make people disappear."

"I see… is that a way of saying you're a bounty hunter?"

She wrinkled her nose, "No. No. I do not get my hands dirty. Usually. So, you are an engineer from Arkanis about to be sold into slavery because you have a nice hair color and I am a native of Ysook who they probably want to kill."

"Kill? What did you do to make them that mad?"

She inhaled deeply, "Ah… well… I was just… I attempted to make their Captain disappear. This time I was going to get my hands dirty."

"Didn't work out?"

She shook her head, her lips pursed. "No. Unfortunately not. Sometimes… if you let emotion interfere with your objective, you make poor decisions."

"You had to learn that the hard way?"

She shrugged, "It was worth the attempt."

"I would be surprised if they kill you."

"Hm? Why is that?"

"A young Ysookian woman? You're worth more to them sold as a slave."

A smile twitched on the edge of her lips and he felt slightly awkward. "Yes, I suppose we do have a reputation, hm?"

He looked away from her, not wanting this conversation.

"Did you know you Arkanisians have a reputation with us as well?"

"I'm not sure I'm interested to know."

"I grew up being told your kind were a bunch of uptight, entitled… what is the word in Basic? Cocks?"

He looked at her and she laughed, leaning toward him with a mischievous glitter in her eyes, "Look at you, sitting on the dirty floor of a prison cell for four days and your outfit still looks pressed. At least half of your reputation is correct. I get the impression you are a meticulous man…" Her eyebrows raised and she feigned a sudden idea, "Oh what a fun pair we would make. Men like you always want to be scolded and told what to do."

He was done with this conversation.

 **Day 5**

"Red, I think you were right. They must not want to kill me if they have not done it yet."

He had more or less ignored her since the prior day.

The door at the end of the hallway opened and a new guard walked in with their morning portions. He was human, a tall dark haired man with a healed over gash on his cheekbone. He tossed the trays for Hux and his neighbor into their cells and turned to the woman.

She leaned against the side of her cell, her arms crossed. The guard pushed her food in and said something to her in the same language as the last guard. She looked disgusted and hissed a curt response.

The guard didn't leave; rather he leaned against the bars and kept talking to her. Her expression grew more and more repulsed. The guard laughed and went to the access pad near her cell, placing his hand on the sensor.

She said something, looking concerned when her cell door popped open. She stepped back, glancing to Hux, then back to the guard, hissing something that sounded like a warning.

A sudden wave of nausea came over him when he realized why she was so concerned.

She tried to slap his hands away, shouting at him.

 _God not here. Not here._ He couldn't do anything. He faced the wall - the least he could do was not watch. He sincerely wished he couldn't hear though.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the blue arm of his neighbor hanging out of his cell. The bastard was watching.

Hux wanted to tear his arm off.

He didn't look when the guard left, instead trying to memorize what he'd seen of the man's face earlier. When his men got him out of this cell, he'd see to it that that one was taken care of.

When he finally dared to glance into her cell, she was sitting in the far corner with her knees drawn against her chest. She was dreadfully quiet, her hands gripping around her legs so tightly they were shaking.

He didn't really excel in pity, but there was a pit in his stomach.

 **Day 6**

When the same guard returned the next morning with their portions, she hovered toward the back of her cell, glaring at him fiercely. The guard said something to her, but she didn't respond.

Later in the day, she finally spoke when she caught him glancing at her. She looked exhausted; he assumed she hadn't slept.

"I do not need pity."

He didn't even know how to respond to that.

She huffed, "He said he heard we - Ysookians - that we enjoy that sort of thing. I suppose it comes with the reputation."

She looked at him silently, like she was challenging him to respond.

He saw the blue arms of his neighbor poke through the bars again. The Duros said something to her, but her expression didn't even flinch. She just looked very tired.

Hux stood and moved to the bars of his cell, to the corner near his neighbor. "He can't understand me?"

"No. Unless he is a good liar."

"Is he a good liar?"

"No."

Hux nodded. He reached through the bars quickly and grabbed the closest arm, bending it back against the solid wall between the two cells. The man yelped painfully, shouting.

"Tell him something for me."

She looked slightly surprised. He wrenched the arm back a little further until he was fairly certain the man was pleading.

"Tell him that if I see his fucking arms hanging out these bars again I'll make sure he can't use them anymore."

Her lips hung open a little.

He nodded, "Well. Tell him."

She looked away from him, "I appreciate the sentiment."

"Then tell him."

She pursed her lips.

"It's not for you, damn it. I can't stand to see his fucking arms hanging out of his cell again."

She sniffed and looked at him, her eyes tired and cold, "I would rather you break his arm, to be honest."

He nodded. Fair enough.

 **Day 7**

He woke up and realized this cycle officially marked the longest he'd ever been away from work.

There had been no noise from his neighbor's cell since yesterday, which was something to be grateful for.

She looked slightly less tired than the day before. "You should tell me something about yourself."

He blinked at her.

"I am bored. It does not need to be anything important. Just… talk. Please."

"What would you possibly want me to talk about?"

"You are an engineer. What sort of things do you work on?"

"I specialize in weaponry."

He was caught off guard by a loud snort from her. "Let me guess… you like the power of it?" She smirked, "It is exactly what I was saying the other day."

"Not really. I like the order of it all. The consistency."

When the door at the end of the hallway opened she flinched, muttering something in her language. The guard entered with a second man, a lankier one with blonde hair. They walked to her cell, facing her and talking to one another. She'd backed up to the far wall, watching the two of them like a trapped animal.

The guard opened her cell door again, entering with the blonde. Hux faced away, rubbing his face and trying to think. There had to be something he could do.

He heard her hiss something and dared a quick glance. The two were standing on either side of her, the blonde with her chin pinched between his fingers. She glared at him fiercely, not making a sound.

The blonde nodded to the other and he took his leave. Hux found himself oddly relieved that it wouldn't be as bad as he initially expected.

She was quiet this time, another thing he considered a twisted relief. When the blonde finally left, Hux couldn't help but look. He expected to see her curled up, trying to hide, but rather she was standing, bracing herself against the wall with a look of sheer will on her face. She had a fresh cut on her cheekbone. He tried not to think about it.

The blonde man exchanged words with the guard at the door, then left. When the door closed again, Hux realized, with a deep, painful amount of dread, that the guard had simply swapped places with the blonde.

He looked back at her and saw her legs give a little. She almost collapsed, but managed to stay upright.

Hux shook his head, trying to come up with something, anything he could do to help. He could say something, but from what she told him the guards didn't understand Basic. The hallway was just wide enough that he wouldn't be able to reach them if he tried to grab them.

When her cell clicked open Hux got to his feet and started pacing his own cell. How was his crew not here yet? It'd been seven cycles. This entire ship of brutes should be long dead…

She was quiet again but he kept pacing, trying to keep it out of his mind.

She made a small noise, struggling against the man, and Hux cursed under his breath, pacing faster.

He finally heard the guard leaving, heading down the hallway, and he looked at her. She was leaning against the wall, barely able to stand, with her hand on her neck as she gasped for air.

The door slammed as the guard left - Hux cursed after him. She slid down the wall to her knees, still holding her neck and gasping.

Hux tried to block her gasps from his mind. He wanted to say something to her, to let her know that he would make the two bastards pay as soon as he was out of here. But he didn't feel like it would help. Nothing felt like it would help.

She was quiet for several hours, hiding toward the back of her cell. He still couldn't figure out what to say.

"We arrive at the market in three days."

He almost sighed with relief at the sound of her voice.

She rolled her eyes, "Stop with the looks of guilt. I told you I do not need your pity." She shrugged to the door, "The dark haired one told me. Three more days, that is all." There was a bruise on her neck that she covered quickly when she saw him notice it. "I am fine."

"To be perfectly frank, I'm not going to put up with three more days of that."

"Mm. It must be awful for you." She snorted and mumbled something to herself.

"That's not… no. That's not what I meant."

"You are protective of me, Red."

He frowned, hating the name. "Don't call me…"

"Then give me a name to call you. You make no sense. You want to murder those bastards, I can see it in your eyes every time that guard comes in here. You do not even know me."

"Of course I don't even know you. I'm not…" He cursed, trying to find the right way to explain why he was so infuriated. "It's… my…" _My crew would never do this. I would never allow them to do this._ "It's a repulsive display of hedonism. It's nothing but a complete lack of self control and complete disregard for anyone other than themselves. And for them to just put it on display here, right in front of others…"

"They rather enjoy that part…" She said in a tone so casual he wanted to punch a wall.

"How do you just act like… like nothing's happened to you?"

She looked very tired. "Is that how I appear?"

He didn't reply. Of course she wasn't acting like nothing happened. A few days earlier she'd been chatty and a little coquettish.

She sighed, "Right now I either let this eat me alive, or I distance myself and try to keep my mind in one piece. I choose the second option. I do not want to talk about this anymore."

He decided he respected that, but still couldn't quite understand how she was so casual about it.

She said she wasn't letting this consume her, but it obviously was, even if she was trying her best to cover it up.

So he had three days. He couldn't imagine his crew wouldn't find him in the next three days. But then, he never could have imagined he'd be stuck in a cell for a whole week waiting for them.

 **Day 8**

When the blonde returned, Hux felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach. He didn't want to hear this again.

She didn't make a sound, but he could hear a small struggle and a clank as he shoved her into the bars. Hux covered his face, trying to block it out, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to deal with this bastard when he wasn't trapped in this damn cell any more.

The struggle from the cell grew louder and he heard the man's voice, followed by a kind of painful sounding whack. He looked to her cell – she'd somehow managed to flip their positions, so the man was on his knees, pinned with his face pressing into the bars. Something was wrapped around his neck - a shredded piece of the blanket from her cot. It was looped through the bars and twisted around his neck. She held tightly onto the other end, just far enough away that he couldn't reach her.

The man gagged, veins starting to bulge in his face.

She looked absolutely terrifying, her eyes completely cold, focused on her prey.

When he started to weaken she leaned in a little closer, keeping the gag tight, and hissed something into his ear. Hux could see the man was just starting to lose consciousness when she leaned back again, raising her foot and bringing it down hard against the back of his head.

Hux turned away quickly, but couldn't avoid the awful noise as the man's skull split against the bars.

When he dared to look back, she was breathing heavily, wiping her face and glaring violently at the mess.

She glanced up at Hux, "I told you… no pity."

He couldn't hide his shock. He certainly didn't blame her for what she'd done, but he never would have imagined she had it in her to do something so… messy.

He shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts.

"Close your mouth. Do not look so surprised." She waved sharply at him.

"You… you should have waited." Fuck. She should have waited. A few more days and surely his crew would be here.

"Why would I do that?" She was mad, snapping at him for the sentiment.

"They're going to kill you for this."

She said something in her language, "You think I give a fuck?"

It didn't take long for the guard to start wondering what was taking his friend so long. He entered the room of cells, stumbling back when he saw the bloody mess. He hurried out.

She was smirking in her cell. "You are wrong, Red."

"About what?"

"They will not kill me. Not so quickly. It is not their style."

"And you… did _that_ knowing they wouldn't just kill you?"

She sniffed, looking down the hallway as the door opened again. He could hear the footsteps of several people.

"Will you tell me your name?"

He couldn't quite understand why she smiled when she asked.

There were three people: one was the guard and two others he'd never seen before.

"Please?" She tilted her head, ignoring them as they observed the scene, talking among each other and looking very angry. "I would really like to say goodbye without calling you Red."

He stepped back from his bars, trying to distance himself from the three men. "Armitage. You can call me Armitage."

They opened her cell door and entered, talking to her. She ignored them, smiling.

One grabbed her face and forced her to look at him, spiting something nasty sounding at her. She still smiled, and responded to him in an almost gleeful tone. He did not appear pleased with her response.

The guard bound her hands behind her and they shoved her out of the cell, one of the other men keeping a hand on the back of her head to force her in the right direction.

She glanced over to Hux, smirking like she'd won, "That is a beautiful name. Goodbye, Armitage."


	2. Chapter 2

**Day 9**

He didn't sleep. He couldn't stop wondering where they had taken her. His crew should be here any time now. Maybe they hadn't killed her yet. Maybe his troopers could find her before it was too late.

He wasn't sure why he cared. It was certainly not that he cared _for_ her. He didn't know her. He supposed he just felt like somebody needed to cut her a break. In some odd way, he respected her. He would have loved to have her on his crew. That look of sheer will, her refusal to break every time the bastards came to visit her… that was the sort of person he liked to have on his side.

The door at the end of the hallway opened; the guard was there to deliver food-goop.

But he didn't have food-goop today - instead, he had the dark haired woman slung over his shoulder. He opened her cell door and tossed her onto the floor carelessly, spitting on her before slamming the door closed.

Hux went to the bars of his cell. She was right, they didn't kill her. She was in awful condition, writhing on the dirty floor. Her hair and clothes were bloody and her arms were covered in bruises and cuts. She held her ribs with broken hands, gasping for air.

"Move your hand."

He wasn't sure if she couldn't hear him or if she just wasn't listening. She coughed and blood spattered on the floor near her mouth.

"Damn it, listen to me! Move your hand!"

She did, barely, and he could see a deep gash through her clothing.

"Your lung is collapsing."

She wheezed for air.

"Listen to me. You need to listen to me. You're going to suffocate if you don't do what I tell you to do…"

She coughed more blood, "I thought you were an engineer, not a doctor."

"I have some medical training. Just listen. You need to cover the wound so air can't get in." He took his jacket off and tore at it, getting a decent length strip and tossing it over to her. "Cover the wound with that, cover it completely, try to get it to stick there…"

He realized this was more or less pointless. She needed a bandage for any decent chance of making it much longer, and a medic if she actually wanted to survive. This makeshift thing might work for a little while, but it wouldn't last long at all.

She did as he told her to, and her wheezing calmed a little. He was cursing to himself.

"Armitage."

He wasn't sure why he gave her his actual first name. He should have lied. He liked his surname almost as much as he liked being called Red. Though with her accent, it did sound kind of nice.

"How are you feeling?"

He assumed what came out of her mouth was a curse in her native language. "Great. Absolutely wonderful."

He wondered how long the makeshift bandage would hold effective. Thirty minutes? And hour? Either way, she didn't have long. "I gave you my name. What is yours?"

She laughed a little and sputtered up blood, "I should not tell you, since you were such a pain in the ass about giving your name." Wheeze. "My name is Mila." She tried to roll onto her back.

"Don't do that. Stay on your side. Your lungs will fill up…"

"Are you a medic as well as an engineer?"

"No, this is basic medical…" If it weren't for his military training he probably wouldn't know any of this. He stopped trying to explain. "I'm surprised they brought you back here. I didn't expect to see you again."

"I think they like the idea of letting me die slowly on a dirty prison floor."

Outside the door at the end of the hallway he could hear shouting, followed by a few loud crashes.

He almost let out a sigh of relief. Finally. It took them long enough. He stood, watching the door. "You're not going to die."

"I think you might be wrong about that."

The door at the end of the hallway made an awful creaking noise, like metal being forcibly bent, and then flew open, almost coming off its hinges.

Hux frowned when he saw the figure standing in the doorway.

Ren. Of course it had to be Ren.

She tried to move, to see what was happening. Ren marched down the hallway, smirking when he spotted Hux behind bars. "So tell me, how do you go about getting yourself kidnapped by a bunch of low level…"

"Just open the door, Ren."

"You should try asking nicely. I could just leave you here."

He frowned at him. "Can we please just get this over with?"

Ren forced the cell door open, "You owe me."

Hux didn't bother to point out that just a few weeks prior he had tracked down Ren's unconscious, bloodied body, removing him from the Starkiller shortly before it exploded.

He pointed to her cell, "Open that cell as well."

She was still lying on the floor, wheezing and looking up at him with a very confused expression.

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

This was precisely why he hated working with Ren. Or at least, it was one of the more prominent reasons. "Just… Damn it she has a hole in her side, her lung is collapsing! She's going to die if she doesn't get to a medic soon!"

Ren narrowed his eyes, "Why do you care? Who is she?"

Admittedly, he wasn't wrong to be suspicious. Hux wasn't even sure why he felt compelled to help the woman.

"Just open the door."

He looked at the woman, then back at Hux with a casual, purposeful pace. "I'll open it if you tell me why you care."

"I should have left you bleeding in the snow…"

Ren gave him a harsh glare, then threw his open hand to the side, force bending the cell door. It burst open violently and she jumped, scrambling back.

"Don't move!" Hux went to her side quickly.

She gasped for air, holding her side and looking absolutely terrified.

"Don't move so quickly, you'll hurt yourself." He moved the cloth from her side to check the wound. It was bleeding badly, and she was very short on breath. "You need to calm down, you're going to make it worse." He looked over his shoulder at Ren, who was leaning against the wall and watching them far more scrupulously than Hux appreciated. "Are you the only one?"

"You think they'd just send me to get you?"

"How many others? Any medics?"

"Yeah, there's one. Should be with the ship in the docking station."

"How far?"

"Maybe five minutes. A little longer with her."

Her lips were starting to look a little blue. Her mouth hung open as she looked from him to Ren, then back to him, "Who… whu… how?"

He realized, quite stupidly, that she'd probably never seen someone open a door without touching it before, much less nearly blow a locked metal door off its hinges.

"I don't have time to explain that one right now. You need to get to my medic."

She looked utterly confused. "You have… a medic?" She coughed, sputtering up blood.

"We need to go." He put a hand behind her back and another under her knees to pick her up. She swatted at him.

"No…" Wheeze. "I can walk." Wheeze.

He didn't believe that for a second. "You can?"

She slowly, painfully pushed herself upright, but not without a little help from him. He kept a hand on her back, in part to steady her in case she collapsed, which seemed likely.

Ren was watching the Duros in the other cell, who stood at the bars looking utterly shocked. Hux realized he'd never actually seen the man in whole, but was somewhat happy to notice he was still cradling a broken arm.

"What about this guy?"

"Leave him." He and Mila said at the same time, both their voices laced with a heavy amount of contempt.

Hux motioned to Ren, "Lead the way."

Ren shrugged at the Duros, like a lazy apology, and turned to leave, his ridiculous cape billowing after him. Hux was certain the man only wore it for effect. They followed slowly – she hissed something at the alien before they exited.

Ren casually stepped over the body of a guard. The room outside was small and circular, with five other doorways. Three of them, including their own, were busted open. More cells lined the walls through the other doors. He wondered briefly if there were other prisoners trapped in any of them, but a strong wheeze from her brought him back to the present.

Ren lead them to an elevator. The door closed to an awkward silence, save her short, pained breaths.

Ren looked at her closely. "What happened to you?"

She mumbled something he couldn't understand. "Just a bad day."

A smile twitched on his lips, "Yeah, I've heard these bastards aren't the kindest." He looked at Hux, "How did you manage to come out unscratched?"

Hux didn't feel the need to justify himself to Ren. "Why did it take so long to find this ship?"

"Your crew spent two days searching that planet. They were sure you were there. This ship has some sort of masking abilities, completely escaped their detection."

The door opened and they stepped out. She leaned on him more heavily, losing strength quickly.

They made their way down a long hallway. A First Order ship sat at the end, along with a few troopers.

"Even with that, it's been 9 cycles. I don't understand how it could possibly take…"

"And I don't understand why you'd wander off on your own on a foreign planet when you clearly can't even defend yourself."

He hoped the look he gave Ren took a few years off his life.

Ren shrugged as they reached the end of the hallway, "The galaxy is a big place, General. You should be thankful we were able to find you at all."

Hux hesitated for a moment before they exited the hallway. His crew shouldn't see him with her hanging on him. It was far to undignified for a powerful leader.

Her lips were blue and her expression a mix of anger and fear. She was focused on the small group of pirates his crew had rounded up. They were all in restraints, looking rather surly. Hux recognized three of them – the dark haired man who'd visited her more times than he cared to think about, and the two that drug her away after she'd killed the blonde. She would have to go past them to reach the ship.

She'd managed to brace herself against the wall, but was starting to shrink down a little. He placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her upright. "You're fine. The ship isn't far."

Ren was already gone, aboard their ship. She clung to his arm heavily as they made their way toward the ship, muttering something in her language.

An officer came off the ship and saluted him. "General Hux, it's good to have you back."

Hux did his best to return the gesture, but was more concerned with the fact that she was about to collapse onto him. "A medic. _Now_."

"Of course, sir." The lieutenant rushed onto the ship.

When they made it to the top of the boarding ramp, her knees gave out. She coughed, spewing blood onto the floor.

He knelt next to her, "The medic will be here in just a moment…" He realized her shoulders were shaking. For a second he thought she might be crying, but then realized she was actually laughing.

"Fucking… engineer… liar…"

It seemed like even more of a stretch now that they stood aboard a ship that was his… surrounded by a crew that was his. "It wasn't entirely a lie…"

She looked at him. Her top was saturated with her own blood, stained deep red. She could barely inhale. "You… You're…" something in her language, "That General. Hux. Fuck."

A medic rushed toward them with the lieutenant. Hux nodded, "Yes, well you can see why I wasn't exactly forthcoming…"

Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed.

He got word from his med team that she woke just one cycle later. Despite being in the midst of preparing his troops for war, he managed to break away for a short visit.

A medic was scanning her hands with some device when he arrived. She said something to Mila, then nodded to Hux and left.

She looked at her hands, wiggling her fingers, "This Bacta quite amazing, no? Look at my hands. They were very broken, but now they do not even hurt."

Maybe the stress of being captured had made him oblivious to her loose grasp on proper Basic grammar. "I take it you're feeling better?"

She nodded, looking at him in a way that made him uncomfortable. Like she was trying to pick apart his face. "Yes. I thought I would die."

"To be fair, you were going to."

"Hm." She rubbed her jawline, "It was this. The hair on your face - I do not know the word. You look very different with it. I never would have recognized you."

He rubbed his clean shaven jaw, "Yes, I suppose it worked to my advantage…"

"You should not have gotten rid of it. I liked it."

He frowned a little, "It's against regulations."

"Oh, you _are_ a military man. You are even more stiff than I thought."

"How is your breathing?" He didn't want to listen to her critique of his mannerisms.

"Much better. There is still pain in my ribs, but it has gotten better."

"Good, good."

"What happened to the pirates your people had?"

"Locked in cells, by my orders."

She frowned at the answer.

"I will see to it that they are handled appropriately."

Her expression didn't change. "They are not yours to punish."

He looked at her for a few moments. "You're right. They aren't." He pulled a chair to the side of her bed. "At least this way you don't have to worry about getting your hands dirty."

"Maybe I want to."

"It's not entirely in my hands anymore."

"What do you mean? This is your ship, no?"

"Yes, but my authority is not absolute within the Order…"

She looked very unhappy with his answer. "Do not touch them. They are not yours."

He didn't know what to say to her. He understood her anger. But he couldn't condone that sort of behavior on his ship.

She crossed her arms. "Is Armitage your real name?"

"Not my preferred name, but yes. It is."

"You do not like it?"

"No."

"You prefer Hux? General?"

"Yes. Either of those."

She smirked a little, "You are so proper."

It was definitely time for this conversation to change directions. "Speaking of names, that's why I'm here."

"Hm?"

"My crew can't seem to identify you. It seems you don't exist. There's no record of you anywhere. No thumbprints, no dental records, nothing can give us any information about you."

"Mmm… That is a problem for you, no?"

"It is."

"You want to know my full name?"

"It would be helpful."

She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "No."

He rubbed his face, wondering why the hell she'd be so difficult. "Do you understand this isn't a game? I cannot justify keeping you on this ship if I don't know who you are."

She blinked at him, "Keep me on this ship?"

"Yes. You're good at making people disappear? That could be a useful skill to the Order."

She laughed, "You do not even know my work. I might be a terrible at what I do."

"I'm willing to bet you're not. And there's more to it than that. You speak more languages than anyone I've ever met. You're… forceful. Determined as hell. The kind of person I want on my crew."

"You are trying to recruit me?"

"You're thinking about it in the wrong way."

She laughed, leaning back on her hands, "Hux. Armitage. I owe you a very, very large favor for saving my life. But that… that would never work."

"What makes you think that?"

She shook her head, looking around the room. "I am not that sort of person. I have… things to take care of. Other things. I cannot stay here."

When he didn't reply, she spoke again. "I am very sorry. I will repay you. But I cannot join your crew."

He was disappointed, but decided it was best to not press. He'd try again when she had a little more time to recover. "Very well. I should be able to keep you aboard while you recover. You will have to leave as soon as the medical team deems you well enough."

She nodded, "I understand."

He stood. He'd been away from work too long. "I'm happy to see you're doing better."

"My crew... I sent them a message earlier. They should be here to retrieve me within a few days."

"Send your ship's information to the control room, I'll make sure they are authorized to dock."

"Good. Armitage?"

He really wished she wouldn't call him that. "Hm?"

"Thank you."

He shook his head.

He visited her again, late in the following cycle. It was during the med bay's sleep cycle, so he assumed she'd be asleep. He mostly wanted to check with her medics, see how her recovery was going.

Much to his surprise, she was not asleep. "You're awake?"

She nodded. "Yes, they keep me here in this little room all day with nothing to do. I have no reason to sleep. I am bored."

He looked out to the main area of the med bay. There were a few medics on staff, but not many. "What do they say about your recovery?"

"The doctors told me I would be fully recovered three days."

"Can you stand?"

She tilted her head, "Yes. Why?"

"Come with me, just for a short walk."

She smiled, dropping her feet over the edge of the bed and getting to her feet stiffly. "That would make me very happy."

He spoke with one of the medics on staff, assuring them that it would just be a short walk and he'd be sure to return her soon.

They walked slowly through the hallways of the Finalizer, chatting casually about her recovery and what her plans were next. She would return to her ship, to her regular life.

"I will leave my contact information with you. As I said, I owe you a very large favor. You may reach out to me anytime."

He paused before a door - their destination. His favorite spot on the entire ship. He entered his passcode and lead her in. "I will certainly take you up on that offer. But I thought I'd give this one last try."

The room was an observatory on the top level of the ship, with an entirely glass ceiling giving a stunning view of the stars around them, fighters zipping past from time to time.

"If you were to agree to join our forces, I would make sure you were stationed here, on my ship. I'm sure you have a fine ship, but..." he motioned up to the view above them. "You can't tell me it's anything like this."

She couldn't take her eyes off it. "It is not." She paused. "There is no sense in comparing, really." She finally drew her eyes from the stars, back to him. "But I stand by what I said. I cannot join you."

He sighed, bowing his head. "You're certain? There's nothing I could do to convince you?"

"No." She almost looked a little sad as she shook her head.

"I spent the majority of my childhood on ships like this one. They all have rooms like this. Every ship I went to I made a point of tracking down the observatory room. That view... it gives you a sense of the scope of the galaxy. It reminds you just how... how grand everything is."

For some reason, she looked confused. Her face was a little flushed.

"Thank you... for this. For saving my life. I am not ungrateful. You have my word: I will repay you."

Ren was just returning to the Finalizer very late after a short outing when he noticed the short dark haired woman wandering around the docking area. He hadn't seen her since he rescued Hux from the prison cell, but he was surprised to find her freely wandering the ship. She was dressed normally, in a pair of loose fitting pants with large pockets and a long sleeved shirt, with a sort of funny floppy hat on her head. For some reason, she wore massive, heavy looking goggles.

He'd seen more injuries like hers than he cared to think of and couldn't believe that the medics would have released her yet. To be fair though, she didn't appear to know where she was. She wandered aimlessly, probably drugged up on painkillers.

He walked up behind her, "What are you doing here?"

She smirked, "Oh? Me? I'm just… looking around."

"Right, and your medics are okay with that?"

She just smirked at him crookedly in response.

"You're going to get yourself hurt being here. What have they drugged you up with anyway?"

She laughed, "You have no idea. Where am I supposed to be?"

"In the med bay." She was seriously out of it.

"And… Where is that again?"

"Yeah you need to get back there. Follow me." He headed down one of the hallways toward the center. He could hear her short footsteps behind him, trying to keep up.

He turned a corner and walked past a few troopers. When he glanced over his shoulder, she wasn't there. Cursing, he backtracked and found her wandering down another hallway, her fingers trailing along the wall. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh. You're back."

He grabbed her shoulder and led her, pushing her in the right direction, "Hux seriously needs to get better security in his med bay."

"I forget, what is your name again?"

"Kylo Ren."

"Hm. That is a very nice name. Do you go by Kylo or Ren?"

"Neither, to you."

"Ah… surly aren't you?"

"I don't entirely want to be babysitting Hux's drugged up… whatever you are to him."

"Oh? Hm… and what do you think I am to him?"

"I won't pretend to understand how that man's mind works. He seems infatuated with you, though I don't know that he's quite capable of feeling something like that. I don't know. His feedback goes haywire around you, that's for sure." He shook his head, "Seriously, it's the last thing I was ever expecting. I pity you, getting attention like that from a man like Hux."

Good thing she won't remember any of this.

"His… Feedback? Is he a droid?"

"I wonder that sometimes." He smirked a little.

She looked confused. "How long have you known him?"

"Hux?" Too long. "Four or five years now."

"Is he your superior?"

He snorted. "No. Absolutely not."

"Then what is he to you?"

"A colleague, I guess… I don't know. You're asking too many questions."

"You don't know? Is that not very well laid out in your military?"

"No… I mean yes, it is. I'm not part of the First Order military."

"Ah… then what are you?"

"I'm…" What was the best way to put this? "I'm the trusted hand of the Supreme Leader."

"Ooh… That sounds very important."

He sensed a little more sarcasm than he cared for in her voice. As they turned the corner before the med bay he spotted Hux, walking toward them from the other direction. He scowled when he saw the two of them.

"Ren… what are you doing?"

Ren shoved her toward him, "She's yours to take care of now. Let your medics know they should keep a better eye on their patients if they're going to fill them so full of drugs they lose their mind."

She laughed and Hux scowled at him.

Ren shook his head, "Keep an eye on her. She keeps trying wander off." With that, he left.

Hux didn't like that she was with Ren. Especially if she wasn't in her right mind. He couldn't be trusted. "You should be back in your room."

"Right. Where was that again?"

He looked at her. He had a hard time believing she was so out of it she didn't even know where her room was. She seemed perfectly fine the night before. Why would the medics give her any sort of medication?

"This way." He started walking away, then realized she wasn't following. He returned and grabbed her arm, pulling her along with him. "What did they give you? You seemed perfectly fine when I visited you last night…"

"Oh…" She giggled a little at the insinuation. "You visited me last night?"

She must have been drugged last night as well. It was very possible he was too tired to notice. He needed to have a serious talk with her medics about this… they certainly should be keeping a better eye on her if they were going to leave her this loopy.

"Clearly they need to be locking your door."

She didn't recognize her room when they found it – he had to push her in. He turned to her to say something but she put a hand on the side of his face, her thumb brushing the edge of his lips.

"What are you…"

She cut him off with a kiss. It was a little sloppy; she caught the edge of his mouth then burshed her lips over his, like she was trying to map his lips with hers.

She didn't stop smirking the entire time.

Admittedly, he'd thought about this. In private. There was something about her demeanor that he found more attractive than he cared to admit. But now that it was happening… something about it made him uncomfortable. When she pulled back he tried to say something, but nothing came to mind.

"Did you enjoy that?"

He jumped at the voice, looking around the room he thought they were alone in.

Mila stood in the frame of the restroom door, a tight, sarcastic smile on her face and her arms crossed.

He looked down at the woman in front of him, who had a toothy grin on her face, then back to the one in the doorway.

"He has nice lips. He visited you last night? I was surprised to hear that..."

A frown passed across the face of the Mila in the doorway and she said something in her language, cutting the one in front of him off. She pulled the grinning one away from him in a slightly aggressive manner.

The two had a short conversation he couldn't understand, and the one in the hospital robe looked at him, "I am sorry. She told me she would be here in a few days…"

"This… _this_ is the crew you were talking about?"

The other Mila frowned. "Crew? She told you I was her _crew_?"

Mila shrugged, "I did not want to explain."

They started talking in their language again, seeming to argue. Hux cut them off, feeling like he deserved a little more of an explanation. "I take it you two are…"

"Yes, yes, twins." The one he knew waved to him casually, "Armitage, this is my sister, Mika. She does this sort of thing all the time. It is hard to tell us apart."

That didn't seem like much of a justification. He was feeling a little robbed. "Ah… right. And how did you sneak onto my ship?"

"Oh…" Mila's eyebrows rose above her ridiculous looking goggles, "It's _his_ ship? Impressive…"

Looking at the two of them standing next to each other, Hux could see a few differences. The two were strikingly similar, very easy to mistake. He could barely see Mika's face behind the goggles, but she had slightly different lips, turned up into a smirk.

"Yes, it is my ship. How did you get aboard?"

"Ah, well, Hux… that is your name?"

"Correct."

She laughed at his response for some reason he didn't understand, "You are very military, aren't you? Well, Hux, our ship is relatively small, I was able to follow after a larger ship that was docking…"

This was deeply concerning to Hux.

The two talked for a moment in their language. Hux was growing increasingly irritated with their private conversations right in front of him.

"Armitage..." Mila looked at him with big, pleading eyes. "My doctors will not let me leave for two more days. Would you object to my sister staying here?"

He was already on edge about this goggled woman. She was strange. He didn't like it.

"She will stay here, in the med bay with me, if you prefer."

He bit a frown. "I'm afraid she can't stay in the med bay, we need the space for patients. I will have someone prep quarters for your sister while you finish your recovery."

Mika smirked, "Oh? We can't stay in your quarters?"

Her sister smacked the back of her head while she giggled. Hux was very seriously regretting his decision. He ignored the comment. "I'll have someone come by soon to take you to your quarters, Mika. I trust you both understand you will need to be discrete? Mika, you are to stay confined to your quarters or here in this room with your sister. I cannot have civilians running around my ship. This is what the two of you do, right? You make people disappear? Well, make yourself disappear to my crew while you're here."

"Oh, no." Mika shook her head. "Mila makes people disappear. I find people."

Hux wasn't even sure what that meant. "Right. Great. Well, Mila, please make sure your sister disappears to my crew then." That seemed like a better solution anyway. He could already tell Mika would be about as pleasant to work with as Ren.


	3. Chapter 3

Ren found her wandering a random hallway again the next day. She was still wearing the same enormous goggles and a top that looked about 4 sizes too big on her, with some sort of draped hood over her head. She trailed her fingers along the wall, seemingly ignoring everyone around her. From the waiver in her walk, he was fairly certain she was drugged again.

He considered leaving her. It would serve Hux right. He really needed to train his crew better… losing track of an intoxicated patient two days in a row? It was an embarrassment.

He decided it might be slightly unfair to let her potentially harm herself just to punish Hux. Somewhat begrudgingly, he went to her, "You have a way of sneaking around, don't you?"

She smiled, "Oh, it's you again. Ren? Kylo? Kylo Ren? How are you?"

"Wonderful." He said flatly. "How did you get out here?"

"I walked." She leaned against the wall coolly. "What am I supposed to call you again?"

He was glad the hallway was nearly empty. This wasn't something he wanted an audience for. "I don't care."

"Hmm…" She smirked in an almost disastrously mischievous way. He couldn't quite get clear feedback from her – for some reason everything coming off her seemed fuzzy. Probably the medication. But he didn't really trust her. He got the feeling she was up to something. "I like Ren, I will call you that. Would you like to know my name?"

"I couldn't care less what your name is, but yeah, Hux already gave that information out _Mila_."

"Ah, but that is not my name."

"I still don't care."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you care?" She tilted her head, "Or at least, why do you act like you don't care?"

"I'm not acting. I really don't care."

"You don't find me even remotely fascinating?" The playful tone in her voice was irritating.

"The only fascinating thing about you is how you manage to keep sneaking away from your medics." He grabbed her arm, "Come on. They're going to figure out you're missing sooner or later."

"You take me too seriously, Ren."

"No, I don't take you seriously at all."

She laughed, "Oh, you _are_ lovely."

He frowned, pulling her a little more forcefully, "I don't know what that's supposed to mean."

"Just that I appreciate your sense of humor."

Humor? Not many people found him funny.

"Where are you from, Ren? Kylo?"

"That's none of your business."

"It is just a question. I'm from Ysook."

"I could have guessed that."

"Yes, I think my accent is quite bad."

"Bad? No. Obvious is the right word."

"Hm. I do not speak your language as well as I should."

"You speak it just fine."

"Thank you. Can I tell you something you don't know?"

"I'm sure you could. And I won't care what it is."

"So moody… I am not who you think I am."

"I don't think you're anybody." He was getting sick of this game. "I don't care who you are."

She laughed, "No, no. You don't understand."

"Does anybody understand you? I get the feeling not."

She hesitated. "You might be right about that. But let me explain…"

"Like I said, I don't care."

Hux came around the corner just as they neared it. Ren stopped and shrugged at Hux as he grabbed her arm, pulling her away from him. "What you doing here? What are you doing with _him_? I told you to be discrete…"

"She's out of it again. I found her wandering around."

Hux waved a hand at him, "She's not drugged… She's…" He gave a very frustrated sounding sigh. Hux's feedback was entirely different around her today. There was no concern, just frustration.

"I was just about to explain to him…"

"No. No, don't do that. I told you…"

"Oh, you are so strict. I am just out for a walk, and if I want to explain to him I can. That is my business, not yours."

Hux scowled. "No. That was not our deal."

"I think you are embarrassed to be caught breaking the rules… I get the feeling Ren could care less. Actually, he may respect you slightly more for it."

Ren couldn't imagine any scenario that would make him have any form of respect for Hux. He was a little curious though. Hux breaking the rules… that was an interesting concept.

"Do you expect me to stay locked in that little room for two days and never speak to anyone?"

"Yes. I do."

She inhaled deeply and motioned vaguely at Ren. "As I was saying, I am not who you think I am." She grinned at him. "Mila is my sister. My name is Mika."

Ren thought for a moment. It would explain why her feedback was entirely different from Mila's. And it would explain why Hux's was different around her.

Hux rubbed his face, "Ren, I hope I can trust you to keep this under wraps…"

"What? Your people don't want two unknowns running around the ship? I'm surprised you're allowing them on here."

Hux opened his mouth to say something, but she plowed right over anything he was about to say, "And he is being terribly kind allowing me to stay here for the next few days while my sister finishes recovering."

Hux looked supremely irritated.

Ren was starting to enjoy this. "So… off the records… you've allowed a random, unknown civilian onto the ship as we're preparing for war?"

A vein pulsed in Hux's forehead. "I don't have time for this. You…" He looked at the woman, "You get back to your quarters, and for the love of god please be discrete." He looked at Ren, "I suppose there's no use in telling you to keep your mouth shut about this."

"Probably not." He was doing his best to not laugh. This was so bazaar it was hilarious.

Hux crossed his arms, "Well… what do you want?" Hux looked like he wanted to vomit as he asked.

"What do I want?" Hux was trying to bribe him. He liked this. "I'll get back to you on that."

"Fine." He turned on his heel and strutted off.

"It is awfully easy to push his buttons, no?"

"Yeah, it is."

"I am sorry I didn't explain when we met yesterday… I have heard of you, Kylo Ren. They speak of you on the black market. Do you want to know what they say?"

"I don't really care what they say." It was a lie. He was slightly curious.

"Of course you care. Everyone cares."

He didn't reply.

"So this Kylo Ren… they say he is quite powerful. They say he is incredibly dangerous… Intimidating… Ruthless… tall…"

He almost laughed. Tall. Was that really what they had to say about him?

"You're not denying any of this so I assume it is all true."

"It is."

"Hm. Terribly confident in that aren't you?"

"None of it is wrong."

"They say you can use the Force."

"Yes."

"So you can?" Her eyebrows rose from behind the goggles. "That is an unusual thing."

"I suppose it is."

"Hm…" She put a finger on her lips. "Interesting. Will you talk about it?"

"No."

She was quiet for a moment. "Do you know what else they say about you, Ren? They say you're incredibly handsome. Do you think that is true?"

He hesitated for a moment, somewhat surprised by the comment. She popped up onto her toes and put a hand on the side of his face, her thumb brushing the scar on his cheek.

He jerked back quickly. "What do you think you're doing?"

Her grin disappeared. "Hm. Interesting. You are very interesting, Ren."

And on that odd, incomplete note, she left, her fingers trailing down the wall as she walked away.

Mitika looked at Hux with a somewhat pained expression. Not that it was much different from his usual expression, but Hux had come to recognize when the man was legitimately expressing distress.

Mitika pulled him to the side, speaking very quietly, "Sir, I've just received news of a small problem…"

"What would that be?"

"Your… er… guests…"

Hux felt his stomach sink. As one of Hux's most trusted men, Mitika was one of the few that knew of their presence on the ship. This news was not starting off well.

"They're in the prison cells on the lower level."

"What? Who put them there?" Hux turned to head to the cells and free the two, wondering who he needed to punish for this error. Mila, who just had a terrible experience in a cell, would not be happy. She was likely traumatized. Someone would be severely punished for this.

"No, I'm sorry sir, I wasn't clear. Nobody put them there."

Hux stopped, realizing this might be even worse news than he thought.

"They've locked themselves into Kylo Ren's interrogation room with one of the prisoners. Nobody can open the door, the code isn't working."

"How many people know?"

"Just myself and two other troopers, sir. I am sure they will keep quiet."

Hux nodded, "Good, thank you. Keep everyone out of the area until I give word."

He left quickly to go extract the two from the room. Just as he reached the end of the hallway, Ren stormed around the corner looking surly, "General!"

"Ren..." Hux tried not to look like he was in a hurry.

"What the hell are those two doing in my…"

Hux held up a hand to cut him off. Of course Ren already knew. "I don't know. I'm going to get them out now."

"I can't get the door open! I set the damn code myself, they must have changed it."

"That wouldn't surprise me. Who do they have in there?"

"Why the hell would I know that? I could care less. I'm trying to gather important information but I can't even access my own chamber. You seriously need to get control of these two, General."

Hux was very well aware that any effort put into trying to calm Ren down was completely useless. The man was in a permanent state of anger. "You're sure you can't open the door?"

"Yes. I promise I tried twice. I really couldn't." Ren said in a mocking tone.

Hux rubbed his face. These two were almost making more trouble than they were worth. "I don't know what they're thinking. This is the stupidest thing…" He hurried off for the cells, trying to figure out how he was going to cover this up.

Ren followed him to the cell. Just as it came into view, the door opened. Mila stepped out and looked down the hallway. When she saw them coming, she closed the door quickly behind her and strode to the other side of the hallway, putting a code into one of the opposite cells.

When Hux realized what she was doing he broke to a sprint, but reached the door just as she sealed it. A small window gave a view into the cell. She looked at him through it, shaking her head and mouthing an apology he didn't believe. She turned away and he could see the prisoner – the guard from the ship. His hands were bound behind him and he looked meager; no doubt the Finalizer crew hadn't fed him much. He couldn't imagine his crew treated any of the prisoners acquired from the ship very well. His crew was loyal to him, and these thugs had dared to cross him. He would have been surprised if they were fed more than once every few days.

Cursing, he punched the door.

Inside the room, she loomed over the man, an odd feat considering she was possibly an entire foot shorter than him. He looked up at her, a scowl twitching on his face. There was fear in his eyes, though. He knew their roles had been flipped - she was the one in control now.

Ren was leaning against the wall near his interrogation chamber, watching casually through the small window on his door. "So… are they just exacting revenge on everyone from that ship?"

Hux shook his head, not really wanting to explain why Mila seemed to be taking a great pleasure in taunting the guard. "Not everyone. We had what? Twenty from that ship? How many does Mika have in your room?"

"Just one. It seems... pretty personal."

Mila circled her way behind the man. A small blade glinted in her hand. Hux looked away - there was no reason for him to watch. "Personal? How so?" Mika did seem far less emotionally stable than her sister. It was entirely possible she took her sister's kidnapping worse than her sister did. He went to the window and peered in. "Ho… woah." He stepped back quickly, looking away. It wasn't what he was expecting. He would have expected some blood or broken bones, but what she has going on in the room was an entire setup. It had clearly been painstakingly planned - the man, the captain of the ship, was strapped down onto Ren's interrogation table.

Ren watched curiously, running his thumb over his lower lip, "That's definitely not water she's using. Some sort of high pH acid, you think?"

Hux rubbed his face. It wasn't that this sort of thing bothered him, in theory. He just didn't want to have to look at it. "Yes, it would appear to be something like that."

"It's not terribly powerful… He'd have a hole in his forehead by now if it were. Must be incredibly painful."

Hux sort of hated that Ren seemed to be getting ideas from this. "Yes, he doesn't appear to be enjoying the situation."

"Hm." Ren had a dark glint in his eyes that Hux had seen a few too many times before. He was definitely getting ideas.

The door to the cell Mila was in opened, and she stepped out. She wiped her hands on a rag, a torn off chunk of the guard's prison uniform. She looked at the two of them.

Hux pointed at Mika's door, "Open this door. We need to stop her."

She tilted her head to the side, "I cannot do that."

Hux sighed, "Do you have any idea the mess you two have made? How the hell am I supposed to cover this up?! I can't have my own people running around the ship undermining my authority and killing whomever they please… But to have you two doing it? It looks awful, I don't know how…"

She shook her head, "No, you do not understand, I cannot open the door. I do not have access any more. That is the way we changed your prison door system. That door can only be opened from the inside."

"Fantastic. Completely fantastic."

She inhaled deeply, "Trust me when I say whatever she is doing to that man is very well justified."

"Justified or not, I can't have her doing this to my prisoners on my ship without my express permission."

She shrugged so casually it gave him a headache. "I am sure you have ways of making bodies disappear. If you do not, I do."

"That's not the issue here. The issue is the two of you have now made me responsible for containing this situation so my entire crew doesn't find out about whatever sick little… revenge plot you two are acting out here, or whatever this is."

"You will figure it out. We can help."

"The last thing I need is you two _helping_ more."

She frowned a little, looking at her hands. The red stains wouldn't wipe away. "Do you think he deserved to die?" She looked up at him with a sort of frank intensity. "You saw what he did to me. Was I right?"

Hux did not want to have this conversation in front of Ren. He glanced to the other man quickly; he seemed focused on whatever was happening in the room.

"Was I?" She wasn't patient with his hesitation.

"If anything you were probably merciful. I don't want to discuss this now. Stop trying to change the subject."

"I am not changing the subject. He was mine to kill. Not yours. And that one." She nodded to the door Ren looked through, "That one is hers to kill, even more than the other man was mine." She tossed the rag onto the floor, "I cannot get this off my hands. Disgusting…"

It was late. Hux was tired, and this entire situation was depleting his energy even faster. "Ren."

"What?"

"Will you stay here and make sure that Mika gets back to her quarters when she's finished with… whatever it is she's doing?"

Ren frowned at him, "I'm not babysitting."

"Honestly, I'd rather have you put her in a cell, but they're leaving first thing tomorrow. So, please, just take her back to her quarters and tell her if she doesn't stay there…"

"She will not want to go anywhere after she is done. If you take her back to her quarters she will not leave."

Hux shook his head at her, "You honestly think I'm going to just trust that…"

"No, I don't think you will trust me. But it is true. She will not want to do anything else, other than maybe sleep. I can promise you that."

Hux did not trust this at all. But, he realized rather regretfully, he didn't really have any control over either of these women. "Just… do what you need to do, okay?"

Ren didn't even bother responding.

"You," He looked back to Mila, "Come with me."

She nodded and did as he asked, hiding her hands in her pockets. "Where are we going?"

"To my quarters."

"Oh…" she hopped alongside him, "Why?"

"Because we need to have a very frank, private conversation and I don't know where else to have one. And I don't trust you to just go back to your room and stay there."

She was quiet for a few moments as they made their way through the hallways. "We will not be trespassing anywhere else..."

"Don't speak of that public, please." He silenced her quickly. She didn't seem to understand he did not want to discuss this within earshot of anyone who could potentially spread rumors.

The door to his quarters slid open and she strode in before him. He sighed, feeling completely defeated by her.

Before he could get the door closed, she made her way into his kitchen area, clanking around in a cabinet.

"What are you doing?"

She appeared with two glasses and a bottle – his best bottle – of whiskey. A very rare bottle of Ysookian whiskey, 21 years old. "We should celebrate."

"What? No. That's disgusting. Don't touch that bottle before you wash your hands."

She shrugged and set the glasses on the counter, going to the sink to clean herself. He grabbed the bottle and went to place it back in his liquor cabinet, but she snagged it away from him and snatched the glasses again, making her way to his sofa. She curled onto the cushion and poured two generous glasses, pushing one across the table toward him.

With a smile, she held up her glass and toasted to him.

"We're not celebrating. There is nothing to celebrate."

"Maybe not for you. There certainly is for me." She drank. "You do not need to celebrate. But you probably do need to drink. Sit."

She was probably right. He did need a drink. He sat on the heavy leather chair across from her and took the glass.

"So… you want to talk."

"Yes. This sort of… undermining of my authority needs to stop."

"Yes?"

"Yes. I told you two to be discrete… You've done the exact opposite of that so far. I don't understand why you… Your sister… she's… well…"

Mila tilted her head to the side. She didn't understand.

"I suppose I can understand this sort of behavior from your sister. She seems… capricious." There was no kinder way for him to say it.

"I do not know that word."

Language barrier, he reminded himself. "It means… sort of unpredictable."

A smile twitched on the edge of her lips, "Ah, yes I suppose that might be a good word for her then."

"But to my point, you seem much more... er… rational." He took a drink, feeling like he might be digging his grave with his own words. "I can't understand why you are behaving like this. I understand you wanted that bastard dead, but you should have gone through me."

She frowned. "So you wanted me to do it on your terms rather than my own?"

He drank again. "That's not… no. That's not it at all. Do you understand that I now have to hide all this from my crew? I'm working hard enough to keep your presence under wraps, and now I have bodies to deal with."

"We can help you dispose of them. As I said, I make people disappear."

"And I can't have your sister sneaking around the ship randomly. She has a bad habit of doing that… I found her wandering around the third level a few days ago. Kylo Ren came across her and thought she was you…"

"He is a… _capricious_ one as well, isn't he?"

Hux shook his head. "No. That's not the right word for him. Your sister is harmless. Kylo Ren is not."

She looked at him. "Did you not look in the room to see what she was doing to that man? My sister is _not_ harmless."

He drank, trying not to think about what he had seen. "That's a fair point. But… it isn't the right word for him." A question had been scratching at his mind for awhile. "How does your sister know the man she had in that room?"

"Hm…" She thought for a moment, swirling the liquid in her glass, then set it down and refilled his glass for him. "I cannot tell you that. It is my sister's matter."

"I figured you couldn't. I take it her matter with him is… very personal?"

"Yes. It is."

"Is that how you ended up on that ship? Were you trying to track the captain down?"

"Yes, something like that." She shifted a little, looking uncomfortable. "I cannot talk about this."

"Considering the way you and your sister have been behaving on my ship, you probably owe me answers to at least a few of my questions. You won't even bother giving me your full name for a background check, yet you go murder two of our prisoners like it's your right."

"I do owe you an apology for our behavior and I have given it. And I owe you for saving my life. But please try to understand, this is not my information to share. It is my sister's. I cannot violate that."

Hux didn't have siblings. He'd never quite understood that bond. It seemed strange to him. "I suppose I can respect that. That is, only if you're serious about this behavior coming to an end now."

"Thank you. I am. Mika and I are finished."

"Good." He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If I can be frank, you completely deserved to kill that man. I just wish you had come to me first, so I could figure out something more discrete. This is going to be difficult to hide from my crew."

She was quiet for a few long moments. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. I'm not saying I'll answer, but you can ask."

"Do you like your job?"

"My… yes. Yes, I do."

"Why?"

He considered for a moment. "More than anything I think it's the satisfaction of having created something… something efficient, powerful, and right."

She nodded very slowly. "You like your crew?"

"Yes. I have the best crew in the galaxy, I'm quite sure of that. They're highly dedicated, well trained…"

She shook her head, "I would have never thought of the infamous General Hux as a compassionate leader."

He wasn't sure if he hated being described as infamous or compassionate more.

She laughed, "You… you are very interesting to me. You cannot begin to imagine how surprised I was when I realized who you were. You know I watched your speech?"

"Really?" He hadn't really thought about it, but it occurred to him that many, many people probably watched his speech.

She nodded, "I never would have recognized you in that cell." She paused for a moment. "I wouldn't even recognize you now, honestly. You are not so… terrifying in person."

"Terrifying?" He'd been wondering how came across during the speech. Terrifying wasn't quite what he was aiming for.

Her mouth twisted, "It might not be the right word. I don't know what is. I thought you seemed… fearsome. Powerful. Unforgiving."

"Hm. Thank you." That was a little closer to what he was aiming for.

She watched him closely for a few moments. "What did it feel like?"

"What? The speech?"

"No. Giving the command to fire the weapon."

He thought. "It was… satisfying. You know I designed it?"

"Really? So you _are_ an engineer?"

"Yes, at least… I was. I developed the concept years ago. It took almost a decade to go from concept to the day we fired it. We had thousands of people that worked on it over the years… engineers, mechanics, physicists, builders… The logistics were utterly astounding. We had to develop an entirely new method to harness the energy…" He was suddenly aware that he was rambling.

She looked at him with a little smirk. "You become even more fascinating to me every time you open your mouth."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble."

"No, no. You were not rambling. You were being passionate about something. It is a good thing."

He didn't feel like any less of a fool for it.

"Does it bother you? After you gave the command, after it is all done with. Do you think about it?"

He looked at her for a few moments. He should have expected that would be her next question. "No."

"Liar." She pointed at him playfully. "That is a lie."

"It was a necessary step. I have no regrets."

"Mm. I think the necessity of it is irrelevant."

"Irrelevant? No. Absolutely not. It was not a… a pretty thing to have to do, but it needed to be done. It doesn't bother me because I know it's what had to be done to stop…"

"You're absolutely lying. You want to know how I know?"

"Enlighten me, please."

She pointed to the coat closet, "Every hanger in there is perfectly spaced, like you measured the distance between them."

"What does that have to do…"

"Every book on your shelf is alphabetized. You know that piece of art that hangs on the wall of my med bay room? I always turn it just slightly crooked and you fix it every time you visit."

"That…" He frowned, "That was you?"

Her dark eyes sparkled deviously as she set down her drink, standing and walking around the table to him. "It was." In a fluid movement, she crawled onto the chair, straddling his legs between her knees.

He put a hand on her waist and tried to push her off, irritated that she would purposefully torment him in such a way. She didn't move. "What does any of this have to do with my sense of guilt - or lack of?"

She smirked, "I thought nothing of it until I saw your whiskey collection."

"What? What about it?"

She started to undo the top buttons of his uniform. "You are missing three bottles. Not just missing. You have not even bothered to realign the remaining ones."

She wasn't wrong, but he didn't appreciate the observation. He grabbed her hands and pushed them away, "It's none of your business."

"It is not my business, that is true." She didn't seem to be fighting her way back to his uniform, so he let her hands go. "When I figured out who you are, I could not figure out why you would save me. You could have let me die in that cell, and you had no reason to do otherwise. Even more than that, the look on your face when they dragged me back to that cell - when you realized I would die without help - you were very concerned. It has bothered me every day. Until I saw your whiskey collection, just now. Now it makes sense."

Hux hadn't been able to figure it out himself, but he was irritated that she seemed to think she understood him so well. "Well, enlighten me. How does my mind work?"

"You had just wiped millions of lives from the galaxy. Millions of innocent lives…"

"Like I said, it was necessary."

"Necessary or not, that is not something that any sane person takes easily. You kill millions of innocent people and have to carry on like you have never doubted that was the right thing to do. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, that was eating away at you. And then I happened… I was right in front of you and I desperately need help…" She'd somehow undone the rest of the buttons on the front of his uniform without his noticing. "You saw me as some sort of… some tiny sliver of retribution. Something you could save rather than destroy." He pushed her hands away again, but she moved them down, between her legs, resting on his thighs, and leaned in so he could feel her lips against the edge of his ear, "I am more experienced than you would know when it comes to guilt. These things are familiar to me."

She'd maneuvered her hands free of his grasp again and was undoing his trousers. He stopped them. "Don't… you don't need to…"

Her hand snaked up to the back of his head, her fingers weaving into his hair. It made him shiver. She grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back a little violently, so he could see her face.

She hissed at him. "You think I am hurt… damaged. I am not half as delicate as you think I am." Her other hand pushed beneath the waistband of his trousers, and wrapped her fingers around his already hard cock. She forced his head to the side so her lips were against his ear, "Let me tell you something: Saving me, it will not free you of the guilt. _Nothing_ you do ever will. People like you and I… we do not get that privilege. The best thing you can do for yourself is try not to think about it… and drink. It will completely…" Her voice cracked and she gave a small gasp as she stroked him, "completely consume you."

He couldn't imagine she was actually enjoying rubbing his cock that much… she must be acting. Not that he particularly minded. At all. He didn't wanted to put her in this position after what she'd been through so recently, but she'd initiated, and it had been far too long since he let himself have any sort of physical release. So she could fake all she wanted - he was taking far too much pleasure in this to stop her.

"Let me tell you the most maddening part." She had completely messed up his hair. It was tickling against his ear with every little gasp. "You actually did save me, you did something genuinely good, but you keep punishing yourself because you know it can _never_ make up for what you've done. You…" She pulled his hair again and he grabbed her hip, using every ounce of effort he had to stop himself from pulling her onto him. He didn't want to push her too far. "You do not even have the balls to ask me my name just because you want to know my name. You just keep insisting your crew needs to know, for a background check." Her hand paused for a moment, shaking, as she gasped into his ear.

She was not acting. There was no way faked that.

"It is so odd to me, I do not understand, but I have wanted you… wanted you so badly… and you are afraid to touch me." Her lips connected with the base of his jaw and she bit lightly at the skin. He felt her lips turn up into a smirk against his skin, "Oh… You're almost there aren't you?" Her tone teased him a little closer.

"Fuck…" He pulled her closer and pushed his face into her neck, nibbling at her skin. Her fingers dug into his hair and she let out a small moan that finally put him over the edge.

He was left gripping her tightly, breathing heavily into her neck as he tried to gather himself. She was frozen on top of him for a moment, before she jerked his head away from her and pulled her hand out of his trousers. She looked at her come-covered hand with a slightly repulsed expression, and wiped it clean on his undershirt.

He was still trying to gather his thoughts when she stood, still not bothering to make eye contact with him, "I hope that was good for you. You seemed like you needed it."

He was a little confused by her closing statement. She was about to step away but he managed to catch her arm just in time, and pulled her back onto the chair, taking her face between his hands and kissing her, greedily, wanting as much of her as she would permit him to have. He was completely disheveled and really wanted to shower and change into undergarments that weren't covered in his come, but it could wait a few moments.

She pushed herself away, glaring at him, "No. Do not kiss me like that when you…"

"Your name." He wove his fingers further into her dark hair, appreciating how it felt wrapped around his fingers. "Please."

"No." She tried to shrug his hands out of her hair, "No, you cannot…"

He pulled her closer, forcing her to look at him, "I want you to stay. Here, in my room, for the evening. But I do not want you in my bed if I don't know your name."

She finally made eye contact with him, looking at him quietly for a few moments. She looked a little sad, almost afraid. He hoped he hadn't come across too strongly, "I'm not asking you for sex." He paused. "Though if you want that, I wouldn't be opposed. Just… Stay. Please stay tonight. Who are you?"

"I… I have not used my family name in many years."

"I don't care." He kissed her again, "I just want to know."

In some odd balancing act, she snatched the bottle of whiskey from the table behind her. "Do you know why I chose this bottle?"

"Because it's the best one I own, I assume. And it's from your home."

"Well… yes. But also, it is mine." She rolls the label to face him, running her finger across the gold lettering of the brand name, "It has my family's name on it."

Volkov. It was an old name, made famous by a now extinct ruling family from her region. Or at least, thought to be extinct. Records were that the entire lineage was wiped out in a hostile takeover about a decade ago.

She shrugged, still looking nervous. "We both have our secrets."

He kissed her. A million questions crowded into his brain. But they didn't really matter at the moment. The only thing he cared about was her lips. And a shower.


	4. Chapter 4

Ren grew very bored waiting for Mika to finish her business in his chamber. He considered leaving, but he wanted to be there when she was done to let her know to keep the fuck out of his chamber. He stopped watching the painstakingly slow process and sat on the floor with his back to the wall, waiting. It was over an hour later when he felt a familiar spike in energy from the room. He stood quickly and looked into the room. The man, still strapped down, was convulsing. He'd be done in a moment. She, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen, but he could still feel her presence.

The man stopped moving. Ren felt his existence wink out. He wondered where she was.

After a few moments, the heavy door clanked and whurred open.

The smell from the room was atrocious. Burnt flesh. It was definitely acid.

She sat on the floor next to the door with her hands draped over her knees. She didn't look at him. "What do you want?"

"This is my chamber. _You_ don't have any business asking me what I'm doing here."

She got to her feet slowly, her knees stiff. "Hm. Thank you for letting me use it."

She turned to him, spattered with blood. He was confused for a moment until he noticed the man had injuries he couldn't see from the small window. She must have had to injure him to make him weak enough to tie down.

"I didn't _let_ you use it."

She dismissed the comment with a shrug.

He looked at the corpse, "Do I even want to know what this was about?"

"Probably not." She wiped the side of her face, smearing blood across her cheek. She didn't really seem to notice.

"Hux is pissed."

"I'm sure he is. I don't really care."

"I'm supposed to take you back to your quarters."

"That is where I would like to go."

He looked at her for a moment, "Well I can't really do that when you're covered in blood. You'd draw a little too much attention. There's a wash room right down the hallway. It's for the prisoners, but nobody will be using it now."

She nodded a little, "Please show me where it is."

He lead her down the hallway to the shower. She trailed after slowly, tracing the wall with her fingertips, leaving a streak of blood as a trail. He thought about telling a trooper to come clean it up, then decided it might be a nice touch for incoming prisoners.

He stopped in front of the shower room and put in his code. The door slid open just in time for her to reach it. She stopped oddly in front of the door, looking at him. Or rather, she didn't really seem to look at him, but at his feet. It was a little hard to tell where she was looking with the goggles.

The room had four blocked off showers against one wall, with walls tall enough for some semblance of privacy but short enough that guards would always have a decent view of the prisoner.

"Well…" He motioned for her to go in.

She tilted her head like she didn't understand.

"Come on." He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her into the room, then re-entered his code so the door shut again. "No offense, but I'm not about to leave you alone anywhere. I won't be able to see you when you're in the shower. I just don't trust you to not sneak off."

"That is probably smart." She stood there, not doing anything.

"What are you waiting for?"

She shrugged, taking off her left glove. She reached up to his face again, running her thumb along his scar. He hated it. Both his scar, and her touching it. Especially her touching it. He jerked back, "What are you…"

"It is interesting to me… That is a fresh scar, no?"

He scowled at her. "Yes. It's none of your business."

"It is interesting that you say it is none of my business, yet you chose to keep it when it is located in such a noticeable place. They are good at healing scars now… I'm sure they could have healed it so that it was completely unnoticeable."

They could have. He wanted to keep it. For some reason he felt that keeping it would serve as a reminder to him… a reminder of the weakness of his attachments. He needed it just as much as he hated it.

She reached up again and traced the scar up to his cheekbone before he jerked away again. "Quit touching me. I don't know why you keep trying to touch it…"

She sighed. "I have always tried to hide mine." She removed her goggles and he could see, rather awkwardly, why she kept touching his face. The flesh around both her eyes, and across the bridge of her nose, was terribly scarred. And her eyes... unfocused. She was blind.

"Oh. Um…"

"Most people cannot tell. I think I am good at hiding it."

She was. A lot of things made more sense now. Like why she wouldn't follow after him in a crowded hall. And why her feedback was so difficult to read. Most people's feedback came as a mix of images and feelings and words, but hers was always hazy, hard to read. And it explained why she was always smirking. It wasn't by choice. She had some sort of nerve damage, resulting in a permanent, lopsided smirk on her face.

"You are luckier than me, in a sense. When this happened to me, they did not have such good medication to heal the scarring. I didn't have the option to hide it."

"So you're completely…"

"The left one is useless. The right, I can see..." She waved a hand in front of her face, "Fuzz. Grey fuzz. And some movement. They are basically useless."

"The man back there..."

"Mm." She nodded. "This was his doing. Among many other things. He… he was a cruel person. He deserved what I did to him. He deserved worse, actually. That was the best I could come up with."

"It was pretty clever."

Her smirk was genuine. "Thank you."

"You had a long time to think about it?"

"Mm. Almost 15 years, now. I was very young when it happened."

He wondered how someone could justify doing such a thing to a young girl. But then, there was that whole thing he did to the padawans Luke was training. This was different though.

"Do you know who my sister and I are?"

"I don't."

"We were born into the old ruling family of Ysook."

"You're Volkov's?"

She nodded, "Yes, you've heard of our family?"

"Most have."

"I suppose so. When I was a girl, there was a group interested in overthrowing my family. It is a wealthy planet, I can see where one would be tempted. It began with attempted bribes and threats... When nothing worked, the group began to escalate their attempts, trying to scare them to giving up their power. They hired that bastard back there to take me and use me to blackmail my family. He was quite clever with it." She pulled off her other glove and he saw her right hand was cybernetic. Beautifully designed, no doubt very expensive custom work, with black and silver caging on the outside and little hexagonal openings to the wiring and beneath. "He kept me for 157 days, so I am told. I have very little recollection of the time. He and his crew… they did this to me."

She wiggled the cybernetic fingers in an almost fascinated manner. She took off her oversized jacket next and dropped it onto the floor carelessly. She wore a sleeveless shirt underneath - her entire right arm was cybernetic, connecting seamlessly with her flesh at her shoulder. "I do remember them taking the arm. That was the first thing they took. My vision was the second thing." She slipped out of the short, chunky work boots she wore and he could see both her feet were cybernetic as well. "Then it was the left leg, then the right. I suppose I am lucky they found me before the bastard could take my left arm. I would be a stump without it."

"They're custom?"

She nodded. She looked odd, standing in front of him with her fake limbs and baggy hat and unfocused eyes.

They were both quiet.

"You are a little clueless aren't you?" She frowned. "I don't know where the shower is."

"Oh." He felt like an ass again. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her across the room and into a stall. When he let go, she ran her hand along the wall until she located the water knobs.

"Ah. Thank you, Ren."

He turned and went back to stand by the door. She threw her clothing out of the stall onto the ground and turned the water on. He watched her cybernetic feet in the shower.

After a few moments, she shouted to him from under the water stream. "I thought you said you weren't going to trust me alone."

"I'm still here."

She laughed. "You are _very_ clueless."

It sunk in after a few moments. He went to the door of her shower.

He had noticed her hair peeking out from under the floppy hat she always wore. The sides were shaved short, with a pattern cut into them. Without the hat, he realized that the pattern wasn't really a pattern, or at least not an intentional pattern. It was a series of several scars covering her head. He'd seen similar ones before, from head surgeries.

Her left leg was cybernetic just past her knee. The right was cybernetic all the way to her hip. She faced away from him.

"You see what I mean? I would be a stump." She laughed, "I am sorry. I know it's rather unattractive."

He was playing with his lips, a nervous habit he'd always hated. "No. They're actually kind of beautiful, I think." They were very elegantly designed.

"Hm." She pushed the short, wet fringe away from her face. "Do you prefer just to watch?"

"Would that be bad?"

"Yes. It would be selfish."

"I tend to excel in that."

She laughed again and turned, stepping toward him. He placed a few fingers on her bare arm, guiding her the rest of the way. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself onto him, and wrapped her legs around his waist tightly, brushing his lips with hers. He was certain she was about to kiss him when she took his lower lip between her teeth and bit down just hard enough that it hurt a little. When she pulled back he could taste blood.

He grabbed the back of her head and forced his mouth onto hers, pushing her up against the shower wall, under the stream of water. When he started at her neck, he could hear her laughing as she dug her fingers into his wet hair. He pressed against her and nipped at her neck.

"Oh, I knew you'd be fun." Her tone was almost comically jovial.

Oddly, her feedback became sharper, clearer to him. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but decided to not really think about it now; he'd rather take advantage the fact that her mind was clearly telling him what she wanted.

She started to pull at his now sopping wet clothes, managing to at least remove his cloak. She ran a hand down his chest to his belt and tugged at it, "You wear too many layers."

He was starting to agree with her. She managed to get the belt undone and tossed it to the floor with a clank, and started working at the first layer of clothing. He pressed his hips against hers again, his cock aching for some sort of relief, his boots slipping on the wet tiles a little.

"What the hell are you wearing? A dress?"

His boots slipped again and he cursed, pulling back from her and managing to get the first layer off before she climbed back onto him. She was greedy, but he could appreciate that. It was like permission for him to be just as greedy. She rocked her hips against his hard bulge, making a pleasured noise that made him even harder. He pushed her against the wall hard, squeezing her hips and growling when she bit at his lip again. His boots slipped against the tile again and he almost fell, sinking to his knees and pulling her down with him.

She laughed, straddling his thighs between her knees. She finally undid his pants and pulled his cock out. He pushed her back onto the tiles and crawled on top of her, not really wanting to fight the slippery tiles anymore and not really having the patience to take his boots off. He was too hard to bother with anything so trivial. He just wanted inside her.

Her back arched and she laughed, wrapping her legs around him, inviting him to push inside her. She gasped when he did, greedily, forcefully, biting at her collarbone. She pulled his sopping wet shirt over his head - the final layer - and ran her fingers over his bare skin.

He squeezed her sides, pulling her further onto his cock, trying to get as deep inside her as he could. She made the most inviting little noises when he thrust into her. She kept saying something in her language; he only sort of wished he knew what it was. There was something oddly arousing about her gasping, almost sounding like she was begging, in a way he couldn't understand.

He was close to coming when she suddenly dug her fingers into his hair, her nails digging into his scalp, her body pulsing around his cock in an amazingly pleasurable way, making him come with a rough grunt.

There was a moment where all he could hear was her breathing heavily next to his ear. She pushed off him and stood from the shower floor a little uneasily, like she didn't quite trust her legs. He wasn't sure if it was from pleasure or because they were cybernetic, but he let himself believe it was the former. From his knees, he looked up at her as she moved directly under the stream and ran her fingers through her short hair roughly. He found himself sincerely wishing he had the stamina to pull her back down on top of him.

His clothing was scattered across the floor of the shower, soaking wet.

"Hm. Thank you for that."

He wasn't sure how to respond. _You too?_

Her feedback was jumpy, excitable. She was tired, but still had energy.

"I suppose you will have to go to your quarters either sopping wet or naked."

He cleaned himself under the stream, "I have to get you to your quarters first."

"Ah, well in that case I suggest you opt for naked."

He glanced at her, wondering if she was seriously suggesting they go at it again. Her feedback indicated she might be. She turned the stream off.

He gathered the clothes from the wet floor and did his best to wring them out, tossing them over the side of the stall in hopes that they'd dry a little before they left.

She dried herself roughly with a towel - he was happy she couldn't see him watching her as she did. Though her feedback told him she was hoping for the attention.

He ended up walking her back to her quarters with his clothes still wet. He decided he didn't really care if people stared.

She stood in the doorway, facing him. The hallway around them was completely deserted. He felt like he should say something, but nothing came to mind. _Thanks for the sex? Your fake legs are really hot?_

"Ren?"

"Hm?"

She snatched his cowl and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him and biting his bottom lip again. It was still a little sore from earlier, but had at least stopped bleeding.

Smirking, she let him go. "You are not done yet. Come inside."

Mika sat on the edge of her bed, her bare back exposed to him as he lay tangled in her sheets. He had an important meeting with the Supreme Leader (and Hux) scheduled in just hours, and he hadn't slept at all. He could get by with a healthy dose of caf beforehand.

She half turned to him, her fingers running gently over her lips.

"Are you going to let me sleep?" He asked, letting his fingertips trace along the curve of her hip.

She smiled. "Yes." She slid down into the bed, on top of him, kissing him enthusiastically, shoving her tongue into his mouth. She pushed upright, squeezing his hips between her thighs, running her hand over his chest. She touched him a lot. He liked it. He felt a little drunk... off her, off this evening.

"I'm impressed by your stamina, Ren."

He tried to sit upright, but she pushed him back onto the bed. "Stay down."

It was a cute effort. He pushed her off and got to his feet, swaying a little. She'd managed to make him dizzy. His entire body felt heavy, exhausted. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I have an important meeting in a few hours, I need to get some sleep..." He was even more tired than he'd imagined. He had to brace himself against the wall while pulling on his pants.

"Can I tell you a secret, Ren?"

"Hm?" He looked around for his shirt. Where had she thrown it? His layers of clothing (still slightly damp) were strewn across the floor. He spotted it and took a step forward, felling like he had to push to launch himself from the wall.

He staggered, and fell to his knees. His vision was fuzzy around the edges, but he could see her legs, standing next to him. "The two bastards in the cells - they were not useful in life, but they will be now that they are dead."

His entire body tingled, his vision going grey.

"We needed a way to get two bodies off this ship."


	5. Chapter 5

When Hux woke in the morning, he was surprised by two things: first, that he'd slept around 5 hours. He couldn't remember the last time he slept more than 3 hours straight. He actually almost felt well rested.

The second thing that surprised him, even more than the first, was that he wasn't alone. She curled against him, breathing softly against his skin. He could feel her eyelashes blinking. She was awake as well.

They didn't have sex. Instead the evening had turned into some sort of thrillingly intimate exploration of each other that never actually involved him entering her. It was different, not what he would have expected, but by no means was he disappointed by it. It seemed much more satisfying, in its own odd way.

He traced his fingertips along the curve of her bare side, silently thrilled by how soft her skin was. He needed to get up, to get ready for work, but felt like he needed to spend a few more minutes taking this in. It was nice to not be alone.

He looked down at her - she was playing with her lips, an expression something akin to worry on her face. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to him. "Are you okay?"

He was surprised when she stretched up just enough to meet his lips with hers. He'd thought about kissing her, but it seemed like it might be too affectionate. Nonetheless, he welcomed the gesture.

She sat upright. "This is… unusual for me."

Time for reality. In some odd way, he was a little happy this felt foreign to her as well. He rolled over and got out of the bed, stretching a little. "It is for me as well." He glanced back at her - she was looking over her shoulder at him, and appeared a little flushed. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head quickly and turned away, muttering again in words he didn't understand.

He showered and dressed in his uniform, realizing he still felt very tired. He wasn't sure why, he'd had 5 full hours of sleep. It must have been her, being with her, late into the evening. His limbs even felt heavy. He wondered if he'd actually need to sleep this cycle - he usually broke for sleep every other cycle. When he returned to the room she was still in his bed, with a sheet wrapped around her, watching him. "You look very different when you're out of that uniform."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

She shrugged, "You act differently too. The uniform achieves its purpose."

He found his boots, feeling so tired he actually had to lean against the wall when he was pulling them on. "You can use the shower if you want to. I'm sorry I have to leave in such a hurry, I have a meeting in about an hour, I need to prepare. And I haven't gotten your contact information yet. Remember to leave it for me." He nodded to her. "I fully intend on calling in that favor."

She was oddly quiet. "Armitage? Do you trust me?"

He stood, uniform ready, and looked at her. It seemed like a strange question. "Trust you? I barely know you."

She stood, letting the sheet fall, and walked to him. "You can trust me."

He didn't quite know how to explain - he almost never trusted anyone. It wasn't anything personal. He'd just met her. It made him a little sad. He could see where someday - under different circumstances, if he lead a different life - he might have been able to trust her, eventually.

She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down, kissing him again. She let their lips part, but held his face there, their foreheads touching. "You can trust me."

Half of him wanted to agree. But that half would have been lying. He was too exhausted to lie. He was happy she was standing so close to him; he had to use her as support to keep standing. His vision grew fuzzy. His knees gave.

"Wha... What did you do to me?"

She held his face between her hands, kissing him again, "Armitage... trust me... please..."

Or did he dream that?

Ren woke up on a foreign ship. It was a small ship, he could tell by how easily he felt its movements. He was lying on a bed in a rather sparse small room. There were two doors, both of them are closed. He sat upright, trying to remember what happened, and his head swam. It was strong enough to almost make him fall back onto the bed. He felt like his head was trapped in a bubble.

He closed his eyes and tried to think clearly. He remembered the shower... with Mika... and they went back to her quarters... and then the memories started to feel blurry. He couldn't quite remember. He was going to leave her quarters. He remembered her legs, just up to her calves...

The other officers on Hux's ship... they'd been behaving oddly the past few days, since he and Hux returned to the ship. And the Supreme Leader hadn't spoken with him since the Starkiller was destroyed.

It dawned on him, his stomach sinking heavily. He'd failed the Supreme Leader. They trapped him with that woman... Mika... to make him weak... and now they were going to do away with him.

He was trapped in a tiny little room on a tiny ship, being shuttled off to wherever they were going to finish his life. He was a little surprised they hadn't killed him already, when he was unconscious. That was their mistake. He would not be taken down easily.

He tried to stand, but swayed heavily and sat back down. Even if he did manage to pry open a door, there was no way he could make it anywhere in an efficient or safe manner. He was too dizzy. He put his head in his hands, pressing his palms into his eyes and trying to gather himself.

The door in front of where he sat slid open and he looked up quickly. It was not who he was expecting at all… it was Mika. She couldn't tell he was awake - she stepped into the room quietly and closed the door behind her.

He had a feeling there was something off about the two sisters being on Hux's ship. Hux would never just allow two unknown people wander around his ship. They must have been hired to eliminate him. It would make sense, that was why she was trying to get so close to him… to learn his habits and find a way to destroy him.

His brain felt slightly more focused, probably from the adrenaline. He stood quickly and reached out with the Force, stopping her in her tracks with a Force choke. She made a small struggling noise, grabbing at her neck like she might be able to free herself.

"You…" His voice was a growl, "Who are you? They hired you?" He walked to her, somewhat uneasily. He was happy she couldn't see the embarrassing amount of effort he had to put into taking a few steps. "Do you really think it was smart to come in here alone? Do you know how easily I could kill you right now…"

She continued to fight against his hold, and he let her loose, instead slamming her back into the wall, holding her eye level with him. She yelped a little.

"Tell me where the hell I am and where you're supposed to be taking me."

"Wha… What? Dumbass, let me down!" She gasped for air. "Don't you think I would have locked the door if I were trying to keep you in here?!"

He hadn't checked the door.

She wiggled against his hold, "I at least would have tried to restrain you…"

He dropped her. If she was malicious, she didn't have a shot at hurting him.

She sunk a little, bracing herself against the wall and rubbing her neck painfully.

"If you didn't drug me, then what the hell am I doing on this ship? Where are we going? Why are you here?"

She held up a hand to stop him, "No, no you misunderstand me. I did drug you, and I did "kidnap" you. The people on that ship were about to turn against you. They were going to kill you."

He was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out if she was lying. Her feedback didn't show any signs that she was trying to cover anything up. "I had suspected they were going to."

"It is what my sister does. She makes people disappear. The job was offered to her - without names, just vague details. She accepted shortly before she was taken, but then you both saved her life." She shrugged, still rubbing her neck, "So here we all are."

Both… So Hux was here as well? He frowned. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Mika."

"Yes you did."

"Well… yes, I did, but I was under the wrong impression. Are you okay?"

Her permanent grin twitched, "Hm? Yes. Good. Don't worry. I didn't know you could do that."

His adrenaline was dissipating and he was starting to feel weak and dizzy again. He leaned a hand against the wall, hoping it would steady him enough. "What did you give me? It's very strong."

"Oh… You're still feeling it? I had to give you much more than normal... you weren't reacting to it."

He looked at her. She overdosed him?

She smiled. "Sorry. We were in a hurry. It was only supposed to take you out for about a day, but you've been asleep nearly 35 hours. You should sit."

"Right. Right." He stumbled back a bit and made his way to the bed, sinking onto it and looking at her. "So… this is your ship?"

"Yes. Well, mine and Mila's." She was still touching her neck.

"Is this your room?"

"It is."

He felt like he should have realized that as soon as he woke, when he was looking around the room. There was absolutely nothing visual about the space. It did have speakers, though.

"I should have known… I should have seen this coming…"

She shrugged, "Probably. People miss things. It's okay. Everything is turning out fine so far."

He shook his head, "No. I can read minds. But I couldn't read any of theirs well enough to know what they were plotting. I usually can, but my grasp on the Force has been so much weaker now, since…"

She was very quiet, listening to what he said. She leaned onto the bed and brushed his scar with her thumb, "Since this?"

He pulled away. "Yes. Since that. Don't touch it."

"You're very sensitive about it."

"At least I don't try to hide it behind a pair of ridiculous goggles."

She didn't seem remotely offended by the statement. "As I mentioned, that is the odd part to me. You hate it but you don't hide it. I don't mean to… offend you, or whatever it is you're feeling. I'm curious about it. There is pain behind that scar. Massive amounts of pain."

"Well, are you going to fucking ask already, if you're so curious?"

"No. You don't understand me. I don't care to know the events behind the scar, unless you feel the need to tell me. What I want to know is the… the emotions behind it."

"That doesn't make any sense."

She leaned forward quickly and kissed over the scar on his cheek, "You are angry." She slowly pecked over to the corner of his lips, "Always very angry. But this is something different. That is what I want to know. It's something I haven't seen of you… Weakness. Shame." She crawled onto his lap and kissed him, holding his face between her hands, running a finger over the tip of the scar.

She was wrong, he thought. "I wouldn't care to tell you the story or the emotions."

"Mmm." She nodded, kissing him again, "I figured that."

"Why… why are you doing this? There is absolutely no way you find weakness attractive."

Her lips paused on his for a moment. "You might be surprised. But really it was…" she motioned to the door, "It was the Force thing you did back there."

"Wai… What?"

She laughed a little and started nibbling at his lips, "Do it again."


	6. Chapter 6

Hux came to very slowly, his mind swimming. He felt… well rested, actually. He felt like he'd been sleeping for a week.

His mind drifted back to what he could remember.

 _Hux, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I had to do this…_

He jerked upright, reaching for the blaster at his side. It wasn't there.

"Good thing I thought to take that thing from you. You are quick."

He was lying on a bed in a small room. There was a door, closed. And a desk with a chair, where Mila was sitting.

"I should have known not to trust you. Where am I? When my crew finds out…"

She sniffed and scratched her nose, "I hate to tell you this, Hux, but your crew is not as loyal to you as you think they are."

"What are you…"

"I have been trying to figure out how to tell you this for the past few days while you were asleep, but your loyal crew was plotting to kill you."

He snorted, standing upright. His legs were incredibly sore; she must have been at least telling the truth that he'd been asleep for a few days. No thanks to whatever she drugged him with. "Really? That's the best you could come up with while I was out? That my crew was plotting mutiny?"

She looked at him almost like she pitied him, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms, "Mutiny? No. You do not understand: Your crew is loyal to their leader. You are not their leader."

"Oh, fuck off. You really think I'm going to buy that…"

"No." She reached to the desk behind her and retrieved a datapad, clicking around on the screen for a few moments. "I cannot really blame you for that, either. It is a good quality, to have faith in your people. Unfortunately it almost got you killed. Anyhow, I knew you would not believe me, so I gathered up whatever evidence I could…" She held the pad out to him. "All of my correspondence with your crew. They hired me to make both you and Ren disappear without problems. I accepted a few days before I was taken. It was was what I was doing in this area, how we both ended up captured by the same group of people..." She trailed off, looking at him. He didn't take the pad.

She nodded, "I thought you would not react well. You do not have to believe me now, and you do not have to look now. I will leave it with you, whenever you are ready." She stood, placing the pad back on the desk. "Willed ignorance is a dangerous thing, Armitage. You know that." She sighed and opened the door to leave, looking back at him with a little frown. "I am sorry this happened."

She turned, and then paused, "I will leave the door open. Your blaster is under the bed. Hopefully that is enough to help you understand: I am on your side."

He broke down and looked at her "evidence" not long after she left. It was compelling. He began to think of it less as "evidence" and more as _evidence_. Some part of his brain kept putting quotes around it, so he didn't have to actually consider the possibility that the people he'd worked with for years, who helped him build his vision, completely betrayed his trust in the most heinous manner.

But after an hour of sifting thought the documents, reading messages and listening to audio, the quotes completely disappeared from his mind. Snoke, disappointed by both his failures and Kylo Ren's, had ordered them both executed. There were multiple messages between she and a few of his officers - no names were mentioned, but Hux recognized a few from the way they wrote. The messages were not faked. They were from his people, in their own words.

He kept the door closed for awhile, not wanting to see anyone. But after a few hours of wallowing, hunger won. He exited the room and went down the hallway. He turned into the main area of the ship and saw Mika working on a datapad. Her fingers froze over the screen when he came in.

He'd never seen her without her oversized jacket and goggles, but now she didn't have either. He had recognized she had some sort of vision problem from the way she acted, but without the goggles he could see her eyes were completely scarred and lifeless. He was surprised by it, but was more surprised by her left arm, which was cybernetic. When he thought about it, he'd never seen her arm or even her hand without a glove.

"Er…"

She lept out of her seat and scrambled for her jacket and goggles, which were lying on a counter behind her.

"Mila!" She shouted for her sister, and then carried on shouting in their language. She did not sound happy.

Mila came into the room just as Mika was finishing pulling on her jacket. She looked at Hux, then at her sister, and said something to her. Her sister carried on yelling over the top of her. Finally, she stormed out of the room, grumbling as she went down the hallway away from them.

Mila sighed, "Sorry. I did not tell her you were awake. You saw…?"

"Her arm? Yes. Is that what she's mad about?"

"She does not like people knowing about her injuries."

"What happened to her eyes?"

Mila's mouth twisted, "She would not want me to tell you."

"I wondered if she had vision problems."

She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, "You looked at the messages?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me now?"

He hesitated. "I believe you."

"Good. Good. I suppose that is the best I can ask for."

"Where exactly are we?"

"Far from your ship. We are safe from the Order, for now."

"And… Where are we going…?"

She bit her bottom lip, "I do not know yet. But… you must have enough on your mind now. We have as much time as we need…"

He looked at her.

She crossed her arms and sighed. "Our ship is small, I know. And you are not the sort to just… go where the universe wants to take you. But it may do you well to… to just…"

"To what?" He was getting impatient with her inability to just say what she meant.

"To take some time for yourself. To process everything that has happened to you over the past few days."

"I'm processing everything perfectly well. My leader has turned against me and taken my crew with him. I can't go back to the Order. There's not much to process, it's relatively simple…"

A frown is twisted onto her face, "These things are never as simple as they seem. We are going to be here for a few days, at least. The ship is small, you will find your way around quickly. Help yourself to anything you want. We will figure out what is next soon."

He crossed his arms, not liking how she seemed to brush everything off, "Do you even intend to ask me where I'd prefer to end up, or are you determining my fate now?"

She rubbed her face and he suddenly realized she looked very tired, "Of course it is your decision, Armitage. But you will not make any good decisions right now, so I will not let you."

"What do you mean, I won't make any good decisions? I've been in much worse situations than this and had to make much more important decisions…"

"Armitage… listen to yourself. Please, just give yourself time."

"I think you're…" She was about to fall asleep. He paused. It was clear she had no energy to keep arguing with him. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I got a few hours yesterday."

"You need to sleep."

"I do. Who are you to lecture me about poor sleep habits?"

He frowned. "I'm sure I can manage on here for a day while you catch up on sleep."

She turned and drug her feet, heading through a door that, from what he could tell, lead to the cockpit, "You do not have a choice, Armitage. You will be here for a few days." She tried to hide a yawn behind her hand, "Ask Mika if you need anything."

He spent a few more hours looking over the messages. It was certainly not that he was confused by it; the content was clear as day. What he couldn't believe was that he didn't see it coming. Of course they wanted him out of the picture. If it were someone else in his position he would have done the same thing. He had done the same thing, in fact. Weak links were best eliminated. It was the only way to survive.

It was just hard to stomach that _he_ was the weak link this time.

After a few hours of dwelling, he decided he ought to eat. The ship was small enough that it couldn't possibly be difficult to find the kitchen. He wandered down a few hallways until he spotted a cracked open doorway, through which he could see what looked like cooking equipment. Flooding with a sense of relief, he pushed the door open. It was the kitchen.

Mika was in there.

So was Ren.

He closed the door quickly and made his way back toward the front of the ship. Mila was sitting in the cockpit. He sat next to her, in the copilot's seat.

"Armitage? Are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes. Just. Don't go in the kitchen."

She tilted her head, "Why?"

"Your sister is in there. With Ren."

"Can you really not stand to be in the same room as him?"

"Wha... I mean yes, I really can't, but that's not what I'm saying. Did you know they were fooling around?"

"Really? No... I had no idea."

"You probably don't want to eat off the table in there."

She laughed. "That's fantastic..."

"How… _how_ do you laugh at that? You should be worried…"

She scrunched her nose, "No... Mika needs something like that."

"Like what? Some psychotic, unstable, childish…"

"My sister tends to not… reveal herself to others. It may be good for her."

"Right… I'd still be worried if I were you." He noticed a pillow and blanket shoved in the corner. "Have you been sleeping here?"

"Oh… yes."

It dawned on him that the ship was so small there couldn't be enough bedrooms for all of them. He rubbed his mouth, "Mila, I'm sorry… It didn't occur to me that I was using your bed…"

She shrugged casually, "It is not a problem."

He shook his head, "No. Take your room back, I don't mind sleeping out here. I fall asleep at my desk enough; I'm quite used to sleeping sitting up…"

"I do not make a habit of making guests sleep in chairs."

"Why don't you go now? I don't need to sleep, just take a few hours to get caught up."

She nodded, looking like she was already half asleep. "Yes. I will do that."

Hours later, he went to check on her. She was still fast asleep, curled up in her blankets. He watched her for a few moments.

"Are you watching me sleep?"

He was about to say no, when he realized it would be an obvious lie. "It's the best place for me to avoid Ren."

A green eye opened and looked at him. "You are like a child."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..."

She pushed herself upright, looking soft and sleepy, like she did the day they'd slept together. It was only a few days ago, but it felt like an eternity passed between then and now.

"Can I..."

"Hm?"

He felt like a complete fool asking. But then, the past few days had proved that might not be an incorrect judgement.

He needed to maintain some dignity. He leaned across her bed and kissed her. "I'm sorry... I just... I think I needed something familiar. And simple." He kissed her again, holding the side of her face.

Oddly, she wouldn't make eye contact with him. "Armitage... do not do this to yourself."

"Do what?"

She ran her fingers over his hand. "Do not become attached. I will hurt you. I will destroy you."

He kissed her again. "I wasn't asking for anything other than a kiss. I don't need a lecture about attachments."

She finally made eye contact with him. "Do you trust me?"

Why did she keep going back to this trust thing? How could she expect him to trust her? He couldn't answer that question. At least, not the way she wanted it answered. He kissed her instead.

She wove her fingers into his hair, keeping his face close but still refusing to make eye contact with him. "I can help you. I can keep you safe. I need you to trust me..."

He cut her off with another kiss, crawling onto the bed with her. He didn't want to hear this.

He and Mila spent several hours in her room, distracting themselves from the madness that had uprooted his entire life. When they came out, Mika was sitting at a table looking bleak.

Mila looked at him and shrugged. "Mika... are you okay?"

She let out a pathetic sigh, getting up from the table to go to her quarters. "Yes."

It was the least convincing yes she could have given.

"Where is Ren?" Mila had a crooked smile on her face. "I'm sure he could cheer you up."

"He's gone."


	7. Chapter 7

"Mika... where is Ren?" Mila jumped to her feet, blocking her sister from moving any further.

"I told you. He is gone."

"Where did he go?" She sounded deadly serious.

Mika shrugged. "He would not say. He said he needed to finish some things."

Finish some things. Hux knew what that meant. The man was hell bent on revenge. Ren make his way back to Snoke, to finish things off. Probably get himself killed. Hux had never been a particularly vengeful person. He understood why Snoke got rid of them. He was being a good leader. Under the circumstances, Hux would have done the same. Some small piece of him was thankful he felt no desire to hunt any of them down. It was far more important to him to look forward, to find a solution and work toward something new.

"Did he take our commuter pod?!"

"I don't know how else he could have left."

"Oh... oh no. Oh no." She dug her fingers into her hair. "Oh no."

Mika frowned, snipping at her in their language. It was like an explosion, suddenly the two women were yelling at each other in words he didn't know. It was the first non-Basic conversation they'd had that he was truly happy he couldn't understand.

And just as suddenly as it started, it ended with Mika taring out of the room.

He watched Mila pacing, still looking livid. "What was that about?"

"He should not have left."

"Yes, well, between you and I, this may not be a bad thing. You don't know Ren. You don't want that man around."

She cursed, storming out of the room.

Three days later, he found himself mildly surprised that he wasn't going crazy. He'd inquired with Mila about where they should go next. He'd offered some suggestions. He knew Wild Space relatively well. He could navigate them to a discreet little planet somewhere... away from the Order, away form the New Republic and the Resistance. She could drop him off, and he could find his way from there.

She didn't seem to be in any hurry. He suspected his facial hair might have had something to do with it. It'd started growing back in and she was particularly fond of it. Almost obsessively fond of it. She'd trapped him in her quarters more than once, pulling herself onto him, kissing him and running her fingers through it.

He was surprised when, late into the cycle, he felt the small ship start to land. He was in the hub of the ship with Mika at the time - she looked just as confused as he.

Mila came into the hub, a sad expression on her face. "Mika... please leave us for a moment."

Mika frowned, then nodded, going back into the ship, to her quarters.

"We're landing?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Armitage..." She walked over to him and popped up on her toes, kissing him. He was growing quickly used to these affectionate gestures. It was funny, in this little ship, cut off from the rest of the world, that sort of thing felt okay. Good, actually. She stroked the hair near his ear, looking up at him with big eyes. There was a heavy sadness about her. "Please trust me."

The ship rocked as it touched down.

He really didn't want to go through this again.

She pulled the hair between her fingers gently. "Please. Armitage..."

The door began to whir open and she dropped her hand, taking a step back from him. She broke eye contact with him, looking to the floor.

"I can't... Mila... look... it's not personal... it's just..." Something caught his eye - three people were boarding the ship. Armed with blasters.

And wearing Resistance uniforms.

Two of them kept blasters trained on him. The third stepped forward, "We have the ship surrounded. You're on our base, there is no hope for escape. I trust you will come without a fight?"

He realized his mouth was hanging open. It slowly dawned on him. How could he have been so foolish? The whole thing was a setup. She'd been hired by the Resistance.

The three moved closer to him, surrounding him. The leader made a quick motion and one of the others grabbed his wrists, forcing them behind him while the third kept a blaster trained to his head.

He couldn't bring himself to move, but looked at her from the corner of his eye, "Mila... What have you done?"

She still wouldn't look at him.

A binding device went around his wrists.

"Armitage Hux, you are now under the control of the Resistance. We will be taking you to one of our prisons shortly, after which you will be transported to a New Republic prison where you will await trial. You are being charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes..."

He couldn't hear the rest. He wanted to wring her neck... she couldn't even look him in the eye... the coward...

One of them shoved him forward, forcing him to walk. As he was leaving, he heard their leader speaking to her, "Thank you, Mila. You'll find the credits in your account."


	8. Chapter 8

Of course, the Republic was so inefficient and ineffective that they couldn't even manage to kill someone in decent time.

His trial was expedited. Not that he had any connection to the outside world, but he was certain his capture was big news. The cameras present at the trial confirmed his suspicions. They rushed his trial to give the Republic citizens some sort of relief, some sort of closure that their leaders were doing their job and justice would be served. The verdict was exactly what he expected the moment the three officials had walked onto Mila's ship: death.

He expected to feel something when it was announced. Something like sadness or grief or depression... or even happiness, that it was all going to be over soon and he wouldn't have to sit in one of their little cells much longer. He didn't feel anything.

And then the worst part came: The stretch until his execution. They didn't even bother to give him a date. They threw him in his little cell and locked the door and never gave him a date. He realized it was likely their way of further punishing him - he would sit in limbo, and one day someone would walk through the door and tell him it was time. No time to make amends, no time to find... mental peace or whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.

He was in the cell for 53 cycles, and then they gave him the date. He had one more week, they said.

He asked them what took them so long. They didn't think it was a funny question. He did.

The next day, they told him he had a visitor.

"Who?" He'd asked the guard. The word came out sounding far more shocked than he'd intended it to.

They told him they didn't know, that they weren't privy to the information. He suspected they were lying.

The room where he was to meet his guest appeared normal at first glance - a table in the center and one chair on either side. The guard made sure to point out to him - it might look clear, but there was an electronic shield. Looking at the wall, he could see the source: a slim, glowing line cutting the room in half. When it was quiet, he could hear the light hum of it operating. He tapped it and could see ripples in the shield. He sat in the chair and noticed the table wasn't even one full table - it was two separate pieces, one on either side of the shield, matched up perfectly to appear normal.

He sat, and waited, wondering who in the entire galaxy would actually want to come visit him. Contrary to what one might think, he did have friends, except that they were all Order-affiliated and wouldn't make their way into Republic territory even if their own lives depended on it.

The door opened and he forced himself not to lean to peek at the person.

A little girl walked in.

She hesitated at the door for a moment, then walked to the chair and sat.

"Really?" It was just the two of them in the room, but he had no doubt there was surveillance. He turned to whatever one-way mirror or cameras there may have been behind him and threw his hands up, " _Really_?! What is this?"

The wall didn't answer him.

He turned back to the girl, who looked back at him, tight jawed.

"Okay, okay I'll bite. What is it? Was your family on Hosnian Prime? Did I kill everyone you know? They sent you in here to cry to me and make me feel bad?"

She glared at him. "No."

He'd never been fond of children. It was really a slap in the face that this would be his last visitor. "Well, enlighten me then. How exactly are you relevant to me?"

"My mother was in the First Order. She left."

He nodded slowly. "I see. A defector. Or a traitor, depending on which word you prefer. I prefer the second."

He'd give the girl this much: she knew how to shoot a deadly glare. "Her name was Vale Mazelle."

He was about to make a snide comment about how the girl's mother was likely a low-level official he never had time to meet, but the name threw him.

"Did you know her?"

Why did he suddenly feel like this child could see straight through him? She was watching him uncomfortably closely. "I..." He cleared his throat, "Yes, actually. I did know Vale. I wasn't aware she defected to the Republic." He needed to either ask a burning question or vomit. He wasn't sure which. "How old are you?"

"Eleven."

He must have been distracted by his anger when she first walked in. Somehow he hadn't noticed, until that moment, that the little girl had bright orange hair.

"Oh."

She looked at him like she was picking apart everything on his face.

"Name?" He meant to assemble a coherent sentence, it just didn't come out that way.

"What?"

He shook his head quickly. "Your name. What name did your mother give you?"

"Cerys."

Cerys. Thank god, it's not some ridiculous sounding name. He actually liked it. It suited the girl well.

"Your mother... where is she?"

The girl blinked a few times, looking away from him. "She died. A few months ago."

Fuck. Why this? Why now? "I... I am sorry to hear that."

"Are you?" She brought her eyes back to his, that same loathing expression on her face.

"Yes. Yes, I am. Who is taking care of you now? She must have remarried..."

"No. I have a new home. One for kids who don't have parents."

An orphanage. She was in an orphanage. With the New Republic.

"She watched your speech."

"Hm? What? Oh." He couldn't focus.

"I watched it with her. She cried." Her eyes welled with tears a little. He'd always hated crying. It was weak. But this... it crushed him. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

Too many thoughts crowded into his head, but he couldn't get his mouth to cooperate to say any of them.

Did she know? He couldn't understand why she was there. Did the little girl understand who he was? Who she was? Even better, did he want her to know? How could he even begin to explain his relationship with Vale to a child? _Sorry, I didn't really love your mother. That wasn't what it was like. Great woman, don't get me wrong, but our relationship was purely... well... physical. She was the wife of my superior, and I was young... and stupid... It only lasted a few months until she unexpectedly disappeared._

He realized now _why_ the woman had disappeared. No doubt her moronic husband would have ended her if he found out. That was part of the thrill of it, for both of them.

"I had questions for you, but I can't remember any of them now." She said quietly, looking at her lap. She was crying.

"Stop." The word spilled out of his mouth before he really realized it. Something about her tears was taring him up. She looked surprised by the outburst. "Don't... I... This place they're keeping you now... are they good to you?"

She looked at him strangely for a few moments, then nodded.

"They're treating you well? You have everything you need?"

"I don't know anybody there." She blinked a few times, looking away from him. "I miss my mother."

"She didn't... she didn't have any family here? To take care of you?"

"No."

He looked across the table at her, coming to a second heartbreaking realization in the short amount of time since he'd entered the room: She was alone.

"I don't want to be here anymore." She stood and shuffled to the door.

"Wait." He stood, like he might somehow actually be able to stop her.

Thankfully, she listened. She looked back at him, wiping at her eyes.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to say. His mouth hung open for a moment. "I... I'm sorry."

She gave him a strange look, and walked out the door.

He paced the room, suddenly brimming with an uncomfortable, dizzy energy. He needed to do something. Anything. She couldn't be alone. He couldn't have that. He would not walk to his execution knowing she was alone.

He didn't hear the door open again. He didn't even realize someone else had entered the room until she spoke.

"Take a seat, Armitage."

He nearly jumped. When he realized who it was, he nearly jumped again. Leia Organa.

She moved into the seat the little girl had been in, placing her hands on the table and lacing her fingers together.

She'd gone mad if she actually thought he'd sit at a table with her.

"There's no need for you to assert dominance here," Her expression was flat, controlled. Her tone grew stern, "Sit."

Did she know? She must have known. Organa was not one to underestimate. She was behind this, all of it. "I'm fine standing."

She looked at him for a long, hard moment. "Cerys was very adamant about coming to see you. I didn't think it was a good idea, but I think the least we could do is respect her wishes."

He didn't believe that for a second. Organa set this up. "Is that what this is? Some sort of... attempt to blackmail me? Make me realize the wrongs of my ways right before I die?"

She inhaled sharply. " _This_ had nothing to do with you. It was for her. Her mother reached out to me shortly before she passed."

"You? Why the hell would Vale reach out to you of all people?"

"Believe it or not, Vale and I were actually friends. Casual friends, but friends nonetheless. I suspect she came directly to me because I'm well acquainted with the situation."

"I don't even know what you mean by that." He spat. What the hell was this woman doing interfering in the girl's life? It was none of her business...

"The children of truly evil men have to be cautious in life." She raised her voice, talking over him. "Outshining a shadow is a challenge, but outshining a black hole is nearly impossible."

"Ha. Oh, I see, you're comparing me to your father..."

"I think it might be a slightly unfair comparison, you've killed a great deal more people than he ever did." She looked at him, challenging him to argue with her. "I don't know that you're seeing the whole picture yet. Let me explain to you: If anyone ever finds out that girl is your daughter, she will become a target for those who feel the need to take their anger at you out on someone. For those who feel your death won't be enough to make up for what you did."

He bit his tongue. "Are you threatening me?"

She raised an eyebrow just slightly. "I am not cruel, Armitage." Hearing her say his name reminded him why he hated it so much. "I have no desire to destroy that girl's life. I intend to keep an eye on her. I will do what I can to ensure the information is never released. She doesn't deserve that."

That was... actually a brutally kind thing for her to do. His stomach curdled thinking of it, but she was right. The girl needed to be kept safe. He looked away from her. He would have thanked her, but how does one really go about thanking their sworn enemy? "I saw your son."

"Aboard the ship with the Volkov twins? Yes, I know he was there. Mila was supposed to bring him in with you. She said he escaped a few days before you reached us. One of my constituents ran into him about a month back..." She shook her head. "But I doubt you want to talk about the war right now."

"I assume he went after the Supreme Leader? He has a temper issue, I don't know if you ever noticed that... He didn't take to the betrayal well."

"Neither have you."

"Being betrayed by one individual can be expected. Being betrayed by an entire ship full of people is slightly different."

"I'm certain it is."

"You haven't seen him?"

"Not in many years."

"He has a scar, on his face. Something he got shortly before the base exploded. Refused to let the medics on my ship touch it for some reason."

She was quiet for a moment, then got to her feet. "I believe we're done here."


	9. Chapter 9

And suddenly, the days went too fast. He barely slept. He found himself pacing his cell, trying to think of some way he could help the girl. There had to be something he could do. Leaving her to be raised by the New Republic was bad enough, but for her to be alone, with no real family to speak of... He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He would not, under any circumstances, walk to his execution knowing that she would be alone.

But there was no relief. He didn't have contact with anyone on the outside. There were the guards, but they could barely stand to look at him. He hardly trusted any of them enough to ask something so important.

Before he knew it, it was the day before his execution, and he still hadn't invented a way to help her. He sat on his bed, rubbing his eyes. He was exhausted, but he couldn't quiet his mind enough to catch any sleep.

A guard entered his room, grunting at him. "You look like a complete wreck."

"Ha." What the hell kind of a comment was that?

"Well, you might want to clean up a little. You have a visitor."

What? A visitor? The girl, maybe? "Do you know who it is?"

"Nope. Clean up, you're off to the meeting room in 10."

There was a small sink in the room and a plate of somewhat reflective metal - he splashed some water on his face and tried to groom back his hair as much as possible. It was getting long. He was surprised they hadn't cut it.

They lead him to the same room. He took a seat nervously, putting his hands on the the table and trying not to play with them while he waited. Time slowed again. Or maybe he really was there for what seemed like hours. The room didn't have any features that might allow him to tell time.

Finally, the door cracked open.

Mila stepped into the room.

He got to his feet. "What are you doing here?"

The look on her face - she looked like she wanted to apologize. That was the last thing he wanted. "Armitage..."

"Don't call me that." He turned around to the wall. "I don't want to speak to this one. Can I refuse a visitor?"

Despite his dearest wish, the wall gave no answer.

He turned back to her. "Fine. _What_ are you doing here? Answer me. Now."

"I wanted to see you."

He was pretty sure the table was bolted to the floor. Probably a smart decision. He wanted to throw it across the room. " _Why_ do you want to see me?"

Her mouth hung open for a moment. She shook her head. "I told you to not get attached."

"Attached? Mila, I was never attached to you. We fucked a few times. That's it."

"You should not lie to yourself so much."

"I'm not lying, Mila."

"Armitage... I did not want to hurt you."

"No? Well, you fucking failed. You killed me. You... begging me to trust you... I never did, not completely. I wasn't that big of a fool. You must enjoy this sort of thing, destroying lives. You've just been some pawn of the Republic this whole time."

"No. No, trust me, I am not affiliated with these people. I have always blamed them for the destruction of my family." She looked at him earnestly. "They stood by and did nothing while my home was taken from me."

"Right. Then what the hell are you doing working for them?"

She stepped close to the shield, speaking quietly. "Will you come here? Please... listen to me..."

"No. Fuck off, Mila... do you know what the worst thing is of all this? They have my... they have this little girl. The daughter of a woman I messed around with several years ago. Organa brought her to visit me. She's..."

Mila watched him closely, a concerned look on her face. "She's yours?"

"Something like that, yes. Her mother died a few months ago and the damn Republic put her in an orphanage. She has no family, nothing, she's completely alone, and I'm going to be killed tomorrow so I can't even help her find a good home. She... she's going to be alone." He ended lamely, not sure where he was going with his rant.

She eyed him curiously. "How do you know she is yours?"

"Organa spoke to her mother just before her death. She told the woman everything. She's the right age."

She was quiet for a moment. "What is her name?"

"HA. Fuck. Like I would tell you that, you vicious cunt."

She sighed, shaking her head. "You think Ren has a bad temper... Armitage..."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"I never lied to you." She stepped away from the shield and left him standing there, waiting for death.

They cuffed him and took him onto a transport vehicle, where he was locked in the back alone, left to himself to contemplate what was about to happen. Apparently they didn't have the means to kill him in the building his prison cell was. It was a terribly foreboding thing to see - there were a line of vehicles, waiting to take people to their death.

Time drug on slowly as he sat in the back of the truck, giving him plenty of time to reflect: He'd failed. He couldn't figure out any way to help the girl. He would die, and she would be stuck living in some strange house all alone. The thought nearly suffocated him.

By the time the vehicle lurched to a stop, he was ready. He was completely exhausted, mentally and emotionally, from agonizing over his failure for what seemed like hours. He got to his feet, standing straight and inhaling deeply before they opened the door.

They'd told him it would be an injection. He hoped it would be fast.

With a heavy clank, the door on the back of the vehicle fell open. He had to squint, unable to see in the sudden flood of light. Nobody came on to retrieve him. He stepped closer to the exit, still shielding his eyes from the blinding light.

When his eyes finally focused, he saw a field outside, carpeted with some sort of long, yellowish grass. He could smell the fresh air - it was shockingly different from the stale, recycled air in the underground prison they'd kept him in. Standing in the grass, right outside the transport, was Mila.

She crossed her arms when he didn't move. "Are you going to come out here?"

He looked at her, and opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He inched to the exit and looked out.

It was a massive field, with a few trees here and there, and a ship - her ship - a ways behind her. There were no signs of other people. He sat - or maybe sort of sank - onto the ledge of the exit, his feet hanging into the grass. "What?"

"I told you, I never lied to you." She stepped toward him and pulled a device from her pocket, connecting it to the cuff around his wrists. They came undone. "You should have trusted me."

"W... What?"

"Come. The drivers must leave. And I am sure you would like a shower."

He looked at his hands. They were on his knees, shaking. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist and she tugged on him. "Armitage?" He looked up at her. She nodded. "It is okay. You can come with me."

Slowly, he rose to his feet. She walked next to him, back to her ship. The transport vehicle's door slammed shut behind them, making him jump. "What... what is going on?" His tone was far more helpless than he was comfortable with.

"You should clean up before we discuss details. You need to wash this experience from your skin. But... you are free now. I told you once: my job is to make people disappear."

He didn't understand. But she was right, a shower helped immensely. He probably spent far too long standing under the scalding hot stream of water and wondering what the hell was going on. She had clothing ready for him - a pair of black pants and a thick maroon sweater. He pulled them on and went out into her room.

She was sitting on the bed, a datapad in her lap. "I hope you do not mind the color."

"What?"

She tugged at the hem of his sweater. "I thought black might be a poor idea since you were seen in it so often."

"Oh. Yeah. Right." He paused awkwardly. "What is happening right now?"

"You saved my life. I owed you a favor, and then I realized that you could not see the favor you needed. The First Order and the Republic both wanted you dead. They never would have stopped hunting you. So..." She flipped the datapad on and shuffled around on it, then handed it to him. "Armitage Hux is dead."

The datapad was flashing with information from a news site.

BREAKING NEWS: FIRST ORDER WAR CRIMINAL ARMITAGE HUX DEAD

LARGEST MASS MURDERER IN GALACTIC HISTORY KILLED IN VIGILANTE ATTACK

JUSTICE SERVED: ARMITAGE HUX DIES IN MASSIVE EXPLOSION

He viewed an article:

 _The First Order General responsible for the tragedy of Hosnian Prime, Armitage Hux, has reportedly been killed in what appears to be a vigilante attack. Hux was first captured by the Resistance three months ago and transferred to the authorities of the New Republic for a full trial. The very controversial, very public trial took place over two months and resulted in a death sentence for the ex-General. The armored transport responsible for taking Hux to his execution today erupted in a fiery blaze as several very powerful explosions were detonated. The explosives appear to be the work of vigilantes, seeing justice for what many viewed as insufficient punishment relative to the severity of his crimes..._

She shrugged, "I am very good at making people disappear, but I must say you have been my most difficult case to date. You cannot go to the Order, or to the Resistance, but Mika and I will help you find a safe new home."

"I... I... What about the drivers?"

"Did you not see the name when they scanned your key for processing? They think they were transporting a man named Shai Norom. He looked somewhat like you, it was an easy swap to make."

"I..." He was usually so good with words, but this entire situation had drained him. He took her face between his hands and kissed her. It was better than any words he could think of. "Thank you. Mila. Thank you..."

He could feel her smile against his lips. "Oh. Do you trust me yet?"

He kissed her again. "Yes. Yes. God yes."

She returned the gesture. "Good. There is one more thing. Come with me."

He followed her through the ship, to the kitchen area. Right before he reached it, he saw what she was taking him to. Mika was inside, standing at the table chopping up some sort of vegetable. Next to her, seated on a stool and watching, was the little girl. Cerys.

He peeled back, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "No. Mila. No."

She tilted her head.

"This... no. This is _not_ what I meant. She needs a home... a normal home, with a normal family. I don't know what to do with a child, I can't possibly..."

Mila smirked at him. "I thought you would say that." She crossed her arms and glanced to the girl. "I gave my sister the information you told me and she was able to track her down. It was actually somewhat easy, when we narrowed by hair color. She is a very sweet girl. Smart."

"Of course she is." He shook his head. "That's not the point. I cannot possibly take care of her..."

She waved a hand at him. "Armitage, you worry too much. The girl herself made it very clear she was not coming with us because of you. It seems your daughter is not very fond of you. She wants to stay with us. Mika and I can always use help. We are happy to have her here."

He glanced back into the room, then back to Mila. He wasn't sure how he felt about any of this.

"You do not have to be a part of her life if you don't want to. But she will be here, with Mika and I. Your next move is your own choice, Armitage." She looked away from him. "If you choose to stay around me... then she will inevitably be part of your life."

He understood what she was saying - it was, in her own way, an offer. He was flattered. "Mila... the girl... she really doesn't like me much, I don't want to..."

"Ah, she will get used to you. She was hesitant around Ren at first as well, but she adores him now."

"Buh... _What?"_

She waved a hand at him again, "Do not worry so much, Armitage."

"No. Wait. What?"

She made her way back into the room, "Ladies, I think it is time to discuss our next destination... Now, I think Wild Space would be a good direction to go. Armitage, you said you are familiar with Wild Space, yes?"

He was an odd mix of confusion and frustration and stress. These three... they would not make it easy for him, that much was certain.


End file.
